Waiting For You
by Junamrsgrl
Summary: What happens when Ali & Bella meet the new boys? Please read & review, thanks!
1. New Kid In Town

**Okay, before you read any further, I have little story for you, the reader. **

**When I originally came up with the notion for this story, I meant it to be only Ali's POV and not so very long. It kinda sorta took on a life of its own and totally schooled me. As if that epic fail wasn't bad enough, I had several people who requested other points of view, and since I knew that the length was already majorly effed, I decided to humor these people and challenge myself. And make no mistake, it is a challenge to write four very different personalities in one story- those of you who do this all the time and make this look easy, I bow to you.**

**So, here are the first two chapters, revised and _considerably_ lengthened. The other four chapters that were originally up are still in revision mode, but should be up shortly.**

**The only other thing I have left to say is thank you very much for wasting your time with me and Stephenie Meyer's wonderful characters, that I have completely bastardized (in a good way, of course) I heart you all, and hope you enjoy the changes!!**

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**Edward, before school, 7:35 AM**

J and I were waiting in silence in Principle Swan's office for him to return with our class schedules, myself already bored to death with this tiny excuse for a school. Tiny excuse for a town, really-there wasn't even a fast-food restaurant. Not good, considering we were definitely stuck here for at least the next two school years. I mean, moving was never fun, but at least when I had moved from Alaska to Texas, I'd gotten to know people pretty quickly, since J had lived there all his life and already had friends that came with him. I didn't remember Alaska too well; I'd been in 3rd grade when I had left and moved in with my Dad. Carlisle was a lot older than me anyway and had stayed with Mom, so a built-in peer in the form of my same-age cousin was a godsend. We'd grown into very different people over the years, but still managed to remain best friends, more or less.

I looked over at J and envied him his… complacence, I guess, for lack of a better word. He didn't look at all bothered by the fact that we had left Texas for good and ended up in Washington, which I couldn't understand. If I didn't know him well enough to know that his demeanor never really changed, I would guess that his somber countenance had to do with his parents. Well, our parents really, since I had stayed with my Aunt Melanie and Uncle Scott from the time my Dad decided to follow some model he'd just met around the world when I was in 6th grade. The car crash that had killed them six months ago had taken its toll on both of us; I became angrier, he became even more withdrawn. And we took it with us to Carlisle's house in Forks and sulked all summer long in our own ways, mourning our loss. So here we were, on the first day of school, and we knew no one even though we had been here for almost three months. Well, it was time to move on with life anyway, I thought, in both sadness and relief.

Principle Swan returned with our paperwork and gathered us up to walk us to homeroom. I hoped, rather than believed this would actually be the case, that there would be something worthwhile to distract both of us during our time here.

**Ali, Homeroom, 7:52 AM**

Well, here we were, in oh-so-happening Forks, Washington on the first day of school. Again. It should have been exciting, reconvening for a brand new year of friends and drama and beer and good times, but I mean, really. In this dreary, dismal, rain-soaked town, excitement had disappeared a long time ago. Probably about the same time privacy flew out the window.

Forks was like, middle of nowhere, Podunk USA. I'm not even sure the most obscure Midwest cornfield could feel more isolated from civilization some days. I was pondering this with a single-minded intensity when Esme noisily put in her usual fashionably-late-with-flair entrance. Next to me, Bella looked up from examining her cuticle and rolled her eyes.

Bella's snotty reaction was nothing compared to Banner's though. He crossed his arms and gave her a stern look, one that would be aimed at her many times throughout the term, I was sure.

"Tell me you expected something new and exciting," I murmured dryly to Bella, with a smirk.

With a little scowl on her face, she replied, "Oh yeah- that'll be the day. Nothing new ever happens here…I just wish Esme would think about the rest of the world at least once. Not everyone has her…ample charm," she said with a small jerk of her head towards our sometime-friend. A snort of laughter escaped me as I watched Esme flirt with Banner in such a way as to highlight the exact amount of ampleness we were discussing. I looked back over at Bella who was now working a serious scowl as she considered her own less than ample charms. I grinned but kept my mouth shut; I sure wasn't in any position to comment. It wasn't like I'd been at the front of the line either.

After teasing a grudging smile from Banner, Esme sauntered over to our block of seats in homeroom, her excitement practically making the air around her crackle.

"Oh my God, you guys are never going to believe this!" she fairly screamed in what I think was meant to be a whisper. I'm pretty sure they heard her over in Norman's room anyway.

Banner glared at us all, and as Bella gave me a pointed look, I conceded she may have just had a point earlier.

Yanking on Esme's bag, I said in a much quieter whisper, "Esme- sit down! Banner's giving us the evil eye. I swear, if you get me detention before the first bell of the term even rings…"

She completely ignored everything I said. "Alice, trust me, the detention would be sooooo worth what I have to tell you!" she spat in a rush, almost as if she was trying to beat something. Unfortunately, her excitability factor had gotten the better of her. Before she could get any more out, the door to the classroom swung open once more and hung there for a minute, as if someone was holding it open from the outside.

My attention diverted, I focused on the mystery party at the door. _Who was that? _Everyone was here, I thought as I surveyed the room out of the corner of my eye. Esme was always the last one in the door. During my surreptitious sweep of the room, I noticed that Bella had perked to attention too, and a couple of girls who were seated across the room, and therefore had a much better view of what was going on outside the door, practically shot up straight in their seats.

Mr. Banner started toward the door and Esme sulked back into her seat a little, annoyed that her presumably unbelievable news had pre-empted her. Just then, the principal (and Bella's dad, Mr. Swan) entered the room as the mysterious hand on the open door. Bella automatically shrank back a little in her seat- I always felt a little sorry for the poor girl honestly. She really just wanted to be left alone, more or less, which no one would do because her dad ran the school. And besides, it just had to be pure suck to be a teenager and have your dad at school with you everyday. Not that she ever really complained about it, but it was clearly giving her a complex.

Mr. Swan and Mr. Banner met near the door and had a brief discussion. Mr. Swan passed a paper to Banner and appeared to gesture out in to the hall at something or someone. Banner acknowledged it. Ok, so obviously a someone. We all watched in curiosity- it almost looked like…_wait for it_… we had a new person at school, and that hadn't happened since Esme had moved here in 6th grade. Mr. Swan waved to Mr. Banner and backed out the door now, holding it open for someone to walk through.

A tall, skinny boy with a backpack slung over his shoulder entered the room. Not bad. Cute, but broody looking as hell. His hair was longish and a really bizarre yet beautiful metallic color but it was all slicked back, which looked odd to me. I may have scrunched my nose.

Beside me though, Bella stiffened. Glancing over, I noticed her mouth had dropped open a bit and she was downright staring at the new guy like he was some kind of god. _Impressive_,I mused as I looked at him again. I never knew Bella to be into a guy before the whole time I'd known her, and I'd seriously wondered if she was in the closet more than once, but apparently James Dean did the trick.

I didn't have time to ruminate on my friend's confirmation of heterosexuality for long. In the next moment, the bottom literally dropped out of my world. Directly on Dean's heels walked in another new boy (score for the female ranks of Forks-two new people, and both with Y chromosomes!) This one was less lanky and had a little more substance to him, and he was sporting an unruly mane of wavy blond hair and a solemn expression, along with quite possibly the most beautiful eyes I had ever seen in my 16 years on this earth.

_Whoa_.

Where had this guy been all my life? My heart started knocking uncomfortably against my ribs and I was completely transfixed. So far gone that even though I knew I probably competed with Bella for stupid expressions, I couldn't stop myself. I had the suspicion that my mouth had dropped open a teeny bit too.

Behind me, a nudge to the shoulder and Esme's smug voice in my ear. "Real classy, guys. Could you be a little more obvious?"

I ignored her and saw Bella shrink back a little more out of the corner of my eye. A flicker of irritation reached through the haze of mind-numbing physical attraction. Why did Esme have to be so thoughtless sometimes? Bella was shy enough- she didn't need help feeling insecure. And as far as that went, I sure didn't need my own stupidity being pointed out to me.

Just as I was about to drop my gaze and give Esme a withering look, surfer boy turned his head my way and looked me straight in the eye. I know I still hadn't gotten my mouth to the 'closed' position, and he'd caught me staring. Great. And now I could feel the heat creeping up my neck. Awesome.

Breaking my gaze (not exactly easy to do because I harbored the suspicion that I'd stare at him forever if he wouldn't have me arrested), I did give Esme that dirty look even though it really wasn't her fault I'd been caught. She grinned back at me like the cat with the cream. Cheeky bitch.

"Everybody," Mr. Banner said almost proudly as he beamed (testament to how little, if anything ever changes here), "we've got not one, but two new students this year." I got the feeling he would have given them awards for something if he'd had some on hand.

He gestured to Emo boy and read from a paper. "Edward…Cullen?" It came out kind of like a question-I guess he wanted to make sure he wasn't going to look stupid by confusing the only two new people Forks had seen in five years. Edward looked up from his intense perusal of the floor tiles and gave the room a guarded glance. He might have nodded in our general direction…but then it could have just been a trick of the eye too. Not very encouraging, but Banner pressed onward. He gestured to Edward's demigod sidekick and read, "Jasper Whitlock," in a much more confident tone. Jasper just stood there, looking like a back-to-school A&F ad, surveying the room.

Edward? Hmm. He must go by Ed. Or maybe Eddie. And Jasper? What a ridiculously old-fashioned name. For some reason, the Beverly Hillbillies theme popped into my head. Oh wait, that was Jethro. Still…Not like I have any room to talk. I only go by Alice because it's slightly less boring and 19th century sounding than Mary, which is actually my first name. Don't judge, I was named after my grandmother; it's not like _I_ had a say in the matter. Plus, most people call me Ali anyway.

"Ok, boys, have a seat. And welcome to Forks!" Banner tried for enthusiasm, but it came out sounding a whole lot like desperation to me. Edward shuffled to an empty seat across the room and slouched into it. He kind of reminded me of when I have to take my cat to the vet…stuck in a cage and testy, Loki crouches real low and gives me the most baleful glare he can muster. Jasper gamely followed suit, his gaze bouncing around as he did so. I purposely kept my eyes lowered even when I felt his gaze on the back of my neck and I desperately tried to ignore the prickles that boy was giving me. I'd already had one too many awkward moments with him, and I hadn't even met the guy yet.

"Bella!" Mr. Banner practically yelled in the near dead silence of the room. Roughly forty pairs of eyes turned in our direction, including new guys's, and I didn't even have to look to know that Bella was attempting to make herself as small as possible behind me; end result being the whole classroom ends up staring at me. Including new guys. _Typical_. Inwardly, I sighed. Poor kid.

"See me after announcements, please?" he asked in a more relaxed tone.

Just then, Mr. Swan's voice came over the loudspeaker to welcome us all back _blahblahblah_ and trot out the normal rules and regulations. Out of the corner of my eye (like everyone else, some more successful than others), I snuck looks to see what our resident objects of forgone adulation and adoration were doing.

Edward was more or less not paying attention to Mr. Swan, or the 35 curious teenagers around him attempting to subtly stare at him. He was keeping his gaze lowered, although I noticed that his eyes strayed to Bella, or rather me, since she was still hiding behind me, more than once. Oh this was gonna be great, I could already tell.

Jasper on the other hand, seemed to be taking everything in all at once- Mr. Swan's voice, all of us attempting to ogle in a surreptitious fashion, Banner scratching his ass behind the desk. And his demeanor was unchanged. He seemed utterly unaffected at being first ring in his own circus, and was just taking his time going around the room and giving us all a good perusal of his own. I fervently hoped he wouldn't make it to me before the bell rang. Just thinking about it made me want to fidget. I gave a good inward scoff at my insta-crush and a mental facepalm to the resulting ridiculous reactions.

Bella stared resolutely ahead at the blackboard, and over my shoulder I could see Esme blatantly staring at both of the new boys, tossing her hair, tits and smile around unrestrained. Not necessarily in that order. Man, I wanted to kick her.

I was acutely aware of the moment Jasper was about to fasten his stare on me and I tried to appear as unconcerned as possible, while the voice in my head was screaming "bellbellbellbellbell!"

Heat. On the side of my face. _Damn_.

Throwing good sense to the wind, my fight instinct kicked in and I defiantly decided _screw this_. I inclined my head to the left slightly and met his unwavering gaze. His eyes stopped on mine and regarded me dispassionately. Some inner devil caused me to arch an eyebrow, like a challenge. There. The gauntlet had been thrown. Ah lovely, I'd done it again. Act first, think later. And there's the bell. Perfect.

Heaving out a sigh and breaking eye contact, I looked over at Bella who was almost shaking with dread about her mysterious after-announcements summons. I have to admit, even I was wondering about it- this girl was so inoffensive it was practically not funny. What could Banner possibly want with her before school even started?

I noticed the newest eye candy lingering by Banner's desk and had a sneaking suspicion that it had to do with them. The thought kind of made my heart race and my gut curdle simultaneously. I couldn't begin to imagine how Bella, who tried her best to be unobtrusive, felt. One look at her grim face and I knew that she had the same inkling. She trudged, and I mean like the way a resigned death row inmate trudges to his inevitable fate, to the front of the room. She warily approached Banner, giving the boys a wide berth. Taking Edward's approach, she stared at the tiles as much as possible. I hung back a little, and I'm not gonna lie, I thought about ditching her to her fate. But, as much as I wasn't sure I wanted to, I had the thought that I had maybe better hang around, for like, moral support. It didn't have anything to do with staring at Jasper up close and personal. Seriously.

As I tried to look as inconspicuous as possible and observe the group, I had the fleeting impression that if behavior was any indicator, Bella and Edward might just have been made for each other. Their movements practically mirrored one another.

Banner greeted Bella with a smile, apparently oblivious to the awkward waves rolling off all of us, except maybe Jasper, who seemed maddeningly at ease. Most of the rest of the classroom had filed out by now, the girls drawing the process out as long as humanly possible without Banner noticing. I don't think Jasper missed all the rubbernecking though; I got the impression there wasn't much that he did miss.

I hung back a bit, just kind of being…there, since Banner hadn't requested the pleasure of my company; I don't even think he noticed I was still there at first.

"Ah, Bella. Welcome back- how was summer vacation?" Banner opened. _Yeah, he was sooooo cool_. I think he was trying to make Forks seem like a great place to live, or maybe even a desirable location to have ended up in, but Bella wasn't about to help him out.

"Uh, fine, Mr. Banner," she replied quickly, giving Edward and Jasper a fleeting glance, then turning an impatient one on Banner. I could almost hear the desperation of her voice in my head. _Get me out of here_.

"Edward, Jasper- this is Bella Swan, our principal's daughter and one of Forks' best students."

Bella blanched. I squeezed my eyes shut and groaned silently. I'm sure he thought he was doing her a favor, but I had the distinct feeling this might turn out even worse than originally anticipated. I honestly wasn't sure Bella would even look in another boy's direction after Banner finished making her out to be the prodigal daughter. In that moment, I fervently hoped Bella would be applying to college in Florida. Or maybe Australia.

Apparently seeing that Edward nor Bella were in any rush to get to know one another, Jasper smoothly held his hand out to her and said in a mellifluous voice positively oozing with Southern charm, "Hello, Miss Swan. Very pleased to meet you." I noticed that he pasted a non-threatening smile on his face for her benefit and gently prompted her to shake his outstretched hand.

Ok, really? I mean, _really_?? Kudos for knowing how to put on the sensitive guy act around the obviously uncomfortably shy girl in the room, but did he have to lay it on so thick? He was clearly accustomed to dealing with the 'Deer in the Headlights' disease Bella suffered from; I wondered how many other unsuspecting females he'd practiced those moves on. I mused over how amusing the whole situation was- Edward had obviously missed the bus to charm school, yet Blondie here thought he was the consummate Ladies' Man. I actually had to stifle laughter, I found the whole dichotomy so preposterous.

Too late I realized that my amused outburst only worked against me, as it drew attention to my otherwise seemingly invisible self. _Shit_. So much for going unnoticed. Jasper looked sharply in my direction, and although the smile stayed fixed in place, his eyes seemed to change. To my mind's eye, in them was a myriad of messages… a little bit of anticipation, as if he'd only been waiting for me to give him to opportunity to acknowledge me, and a larger amount of…disappointment? No that wasn't quite right. A subtle chiding though, as if he didn't approve of the casual way I'd dismissed his attempt to put Bella at ease.

Well, I'll be damned. Maybe he was just being a genuinely nice guy. That wasn't all though. While his expression wasn't exactly cold, neither did it seem friendly. The look in his eyes was piercing really, and not unlike a challenge. Obviously raised with manners to spare, he wasted no time in taking the three steps necessary to reach me and extended his hand again.

"Very pleased to meet you as well, Miss…"

Direct gaze. Green. With flecks of gold. Mesmerizing. _A dare? _

Simultaneously attracted beyond my wildest dreams and yet irritated to madness by some nameless facet of this odd new boy, I curtly replied, "Brandon. Alice."

I made no offer of extending my hand to meet his; even though I hadn't been raised in a barn either, I was suddenly aware of an acute hesitation on my part to taking his proffered hand. Sounds ridiculous, I know, but at that moment it seemed like if I touched him, there would be some…I don't know. Monumental change.

Someone with real manners would have backed down. The air was filled with a palpable kind of tension as he held his ground. His facial muscles didn't even twitch, yet his eyes seemed to speak volumes again. The challenge hadn't been retracted; instead it was joined by a kind of…private amusement. It _was_ a dare. And damn him anyway; I'd never been able to back away from a dare yet. It was like he somehow knew it.

Frustrated that he seemed to be commanding the situation and trapped to the point where I was beginning to look completely rude, I reluctantly held out my hand and attempted to deliver a confident, assertive handshake. I felt the electricity, quickly followed by the heat, seconds before our hands actually met. The feeling quadrupled when our skin made contact and I had to resist the urge to flinch.

Arrested where I stood, my eyes flew to his again. He was regarding me with a pensive look, but the left corner of his mouth had tilted up into a crooked half-smile, revealing a killer dimple. _Not good_. _Not good. _Instantaneously, I had the panicked thought that I could fall absolutely, head over heels, all the way, no holds barred in love with this guy. I wasn't entirely sure I hadn't already actually. And I didn't think I was the only one to feel it. Whatever _it_ was. In some corner of my mind I frantically wondered how I could be in love with someone when I didn't even know yet if I liked them.

Mr. Banner cleared his throat, forcing my impending hysteria to the back burner. Bella was giving me a pained look, and Edward had actually interrupted his contemplation of the floor and was peering at us speculatively. Our hands were still clasped together.

Prompted into action, I hastily dropped my hand and broke the contact. Jasper stepped back and smoothly re-engaged Banner in conversation, assuming control yet again. My inner traitor was fangirling with absolute joy over the dominant…maleness of him. My rational self was quickly turning petulant, goaded by a feeling I couldn't, or maybe refused, to name.

Banner turned back to Bella with a nervous chuckle and said a little uncertainly, "Principle Swan thought maybe you could show our new friends here around, Bella."

The focus turned back to her, I could see her gearing up for a full out panic attack. Edward was watching her closely. Before Jasper could intervene and work his magic, Edward stepped toward her and said, "But only if you've got the time."

_Well hot damn_. He does speak. Got a pretty sexy voice too. Even though I could tell he was just trying to put Bella at ease -_GTFO, two sensitive men in one room? What is this world coming to?- _it had the opposite effect. True, it had prevented the full-blown Bella spaz. But the only other reaction she had was to freeze up. Bella's flight or flight response is like, waaaaaaaay more exaggerated than a normal person's.

Feeling sorry for her, and wanting to get the hell out of there myself, I interjected from behind her, "Uh, no it's fine. We can show you around. If you want."

Feeling a bit awkward because I hadn't actually 'met' Edward yet, I stepped into the group, held out my hand, and said, "Hi Edward. Alice," by way of an introduction.

"Nice to meet you, Alice," he replied. Ok, so apparently he can be personable. Feeling heat on the side of my neck again, I glanced to my left and found Jasper looking at me pretty intensely. So I was pretty relieved when Banner, who I think was completely confused as to how exactly he had lost the upper hand in the conversation, took the opportunity to seize control of it again and said, "Excellent, Alice!" with a clap of his hands.

"Now, I believe you boys have first period with me, but if I'm not mistaken you've all got Study Hall with Ms. Witmer next period?" Banner asked, picking up the sheet of paper he had been handed when Bella's dad had been in the classroom earlier. We all nodded or murmured an affirmative answer. "Alright then, if you girls would just meet us all here after first period…" he trailed off.

_We all had 2__nd__ period together?_ Oh gods, that was going to be great. How many other classes would I be tortured with this way throughout the school year, I worried. Forks High was not exactly teeming with population; chances of Jasper & I ending up with similar class schedules was more likely than not, statistically. I would make myself sick if I carried this thought process for too long. Time to leave.

"That's great Mr. Banner," I said hurriedly, not wanting to draw this out any longer. "Now, if there's nothing else…? Bella and I need to get to class. So we're not late," I prompted.

"Oh, yes, yes, of course!" he shouted. Bella started a little. Damn, he needed to switch to decaf. Or maybe even chocolate milk.

"Ok," I said. "I guess we'll, ah…meet you guys after class out front then." I kind of directed this at Edward since he seemed the less threatening of the two in my estimation, and I was already facing his direction anyway. He nodded, still eyeing Bella, who was now playing with a tab on her backpack. I touched her shoulder and with a jerk of my head towards the open door, I said, "We'd better go, yeah?"

She didn't even need the hint; I could tell by the sheer gratitude in her eyes that she was more than ready to book. Taking the cue, Jasper looked from me to Bella and then back to me again, and said softly, "Until we meet again, ladies."

I fought the urge to roll my eyes even as my body sang for that smooth delivery. I really, really wanted to. What was it about this guy that set me off? Instead, I just steered Bella around and herded her out the door. The back of my neck was on fire and on a hunch, just before we exited the room, I turned back.

Jasper was still staring at me; he hadn't even moved from his spot. His eyes met mine briefly and I swear, they positively smoldered at me. Suddenly unable to breath, I concentrated on putting as much distance between us as humanly possible. I knew it was pointless, but that didn't make it any less necessary.

**Jasper, homeroom, 8:13 AM**

If someone had told me even two hours ago that my life was going to change so much, _again_, in such a short space of time, I might have laughed at them. If they had told me it would be at the hands of one tiny girl in a town so goddamned small it might not even be on the map, I most likely would have scoffed.

Don't get me wrong though. If I had known this was waiting for me at the end, I never would have wasted even a minute privately wishing Forks to Hell and back, which I'd done daily since I'd arrived. If not for my parents…well, better not to go that route. Some things just are the way they are and that's how they're meant to be; it's nothing personal.

I knew she was there the minute I'd walked in the room this morning. I could _feel _her. It took me a minute to pick her out of the group she was sitting with, but I knew it was her nonetheless. What I felt when our eyes met that first time was like nothing I'd ever experienced before, and it wasn't exactly comfortable. I felt a little short of breath and my entire body was…fuzzy, or maybe numb, I guess, for lack of a better word. The clothing that I purposely picked out for comfort, more than to impress, was scratching against my body mercilessly, especially since looking at her face for the first time caused me to involuntarily go hard.

I had moved my bag slightly, an attempt to get more comfortable and hide any possible reaction, but I didn't betray my emotions. I'm sometimes spontaneous, but never impulsive. There is a difference. As we were walking to our seats, I forcibly looked away from her and made myself survey the rest of the room; a lot of faces were looking back at me. And yet the only one I could clearly see was hers. I'd willed myself to try and commit to memory the faces of my peers; after all, these were the people I was going to be spending the rest of my High School career with. I went one by one, forcing myself to give each person a thorough scrutinizing before looking again at the small girl with the dark hair and eyes. Objectively, I could see that her friends, the petite brunette hiding behind her (Bella, I think the teacher had called her), and the red-haired girl who was practically assaulting me from across the room with her eyelashes and her chest, were both extremely attractive as well. But they just didn't speak to me the way this girl did.

When I finally did turn to her, fully intending to look my fill, she had turned her head in my direction and looked me straight in the eye. Then she gave me this completely fucking haughty (read: hot, capital H) arch of her eyebrow, and I knew I was hooked. It was a good thing I was sitting too. I could never remember another homeroom where I seriously had to worry about being turned on. As much as it excited me, I had the notion these might be the longest school days I ever experienced. I think I was ok with that though.

Before I knew it, the bell had rung and Edward and I were being summoned by Mr. Banner. We left our stuff at our desks since we had Chem with him first and went up to his desk. He looked behind us and I noticed that the brown-haired girl, Bella, was taking her sweet time getting up front, followed by her black-haired friend, who I noticed was giving a disgusted look to all those people who were staring at us on their way out the door; for some reason that amused me.

Bella was maybe the most timid person I had ever met in my life. I actually felt bad that Mr. Banner was subjecting her to this when I realized how uncomfortable she was. I had idly been wondering why her friend had stuck around, not that I was complaining or anything. Obviously, she was extremely loyal, a point in her favor. I was itching to introduce myself to her, but one of those rules my mama had drilled into me was that you speak when you're spoken to. She'd also taught me that you help a lady in distress and right now, it looked very much like Bella could use a little rescuing. I put on my best 'I'm from Texas' accent and tried to come off as non-threatening as I possibly could. Girls love the Southern appeal for some reason.

A snicker from her friend had all of us turning her way. I was getting the feeling she had been laughing at me, which I didn't completely understand. Okay, well maybe not _all_ girls, I amended…On the other hand, it was the perfect in. I had to acknowledge her anyway, now that she'd drawn the attention to herself, so I wasted no time stepping up and holding out my hand, the anticipation of touching her almost unbearable. I hate to admit it, but Bella was almost completely forgotten; I had to find out this creature's name.

"Pleased to meet you as well, Miss…?" Another one of Mama's rules. You always address a lady as a lady.

I stared into her clear amber eyes, so vibrant that they were mesmerizing. They didn't look as dark up close. Her short and sweet answer was less than encouraging, she seemed downright annoyed with me for some reason in point of fact, but at least now I knew her name. _Alice. _She seemed hesitant to take my hand, but there was no way I was getting this close and not touching her somehow. I think she knew it too. She gave me a frustrated glance; I responded with my best compulsory gaze, which I knew was pretty good; it had always worked on our housekeeper anyway. And I hoped I wasn't wrong, but she seemed the type who needed to prove herself, so I didn't think she'd back out. At least, I hoped she wouldn't.

She paused for a few seconds before placing her tiny hand in mine. It was cool, and seemed to be humming with electricity; I could feel her heartbeat through our palms, and our eyes were fixed on each other's. It was the most perfect feeling I have ever encountered to date, one of total mind-numbing clarity. I couldn't help but smile.

Mr. Banner clearing his throat interrupted my cocoon of perfection and reality came crashing back. When she let go of my hand like she'd been burned, I turned and noticed all of them looking at us strangely. I let my accent slip a little more and addressed Mr. Banner, not missing Edward's silent smirk; the accent works pretty well on everyone, truth be told.

After that, it seemed like Alice, and Bella honestly, were looking for reasons to escape the room. I wasn't averse to a little break either. Whatever that was, it had been pretty potent. And there was always next period anyway, after I'd had a little time to sit and reflect.

And reflect I would, I thought, as I said my good-byes and watched Alice out the door. She turned back to look at me just before she disappeared out of sight, and I had the thought that I should maybe work on not staring quite so much. Then again, she was really worth the looking, and any woman who is surely ought to know that.

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**Reviews make bad school days better, if you would be so kind.**


	2. Things Better Left Unsaid

**Ali, 1st**** Period, 8:09 AM**

"Ohmigod Ali, there is NO WAY I can do this," Bella assaulted me in a panicked voice before we were even clear of the door. "NO way," she repeated.

She's really only shy around boys. And people she doesn't know well. You wouldn't think that would be a big problem in a town like Forks, but she's seriously so timid that 'people she doesn't know very well' constitutes pretty much everyone but me and Esme. Its ridiculous, really. I mean, I love that girl like she's my sister, but we are like, polar opposites. I have no idea how we've stayed best friends this long.

"Alright, chicken shit, calm down," I said with a scowl. "You dragged me into it too now. You'll be fine."

We were practically running to make it to English Lit on time; that whole debacle had really slowed us down. Well, time-wise anyway. I can't say for sure if Bella had felt anything going on back there (although I had my suspicions), but just occupying the same space with that boy had caused my own heart rate to double, at least. In just about every other way, I was running pretty hot and pretty fast. I was still completely bewildered over that sucker-punched feeling I'd walked away with, and it was making me a little ornery.

"But, Ali," Bella was blubbering on now, "those boys make me uncomfortable…ok well, the tall one does. The blond one is fine."

"Oh yeah, he seems like an absolute paragon," I muttered under my breath. I don't know why, but his presence made me feel edgy. On guard. Irritable. Under attack. I kind of wished I could undo the last half hour of my life and keep Forks boring.

_Oh and he was good_, I silently fumed. Making me all defensive with just his eyes, and that dimple (which ought to be fucking illegal, in my opinion). My knees literally felt weak just at the memory. I couldn't even begin to imagine how awesome our next stilted conversation would go.

"Alice," Bella grunted, out of breath and struggling to keep up with me in my marathon mode. "Wait up!"

What can I say? I have a hatred of being late to begin with and my agitation level was through the roof. Not a good combo. We skated into our seats just as the bell was ringing, and were treated to a dirty look from Mrs. Winton, and then about ten more from every girl in the classroom who had taken their sweet time leaving homeroom and seen us talking to the new boys. Oh wonderful, I thought. We needed another reason to stand out from the rest of the beautiful people. My agitation level, not surprisingly, rose a notch or two.

I really did try to concentrate on Winton's 'Welcome Back' spiel, but I was seriously still too strung out. Plus, Bella was fidgeting herself bald beside me, which wasn't doing any favors for my mood.

"Would you knock it off?" I finally hissed under my breath. She gave me a worried look. "I can't help it," she finally confessed. After a few seconds of silence and one pained expression later, "They're both so good-looking."

_Word, Bella. I noticed too. _

I rolled my eyes. One of us had to keep it together, whether we wanted to or not.

"You're worried because some guys we don't even know are good-looking?" I asked, purposely misunderstanding her.

She didn't answer, but instead asked in an almost-whiny voice, "Why did Mr. Banner pick me?"

Starting to get a little tweaked that I had not only my own issues to deal with, but now hers too, I replied a bit sarcastically, "Well, jeez Bella. Let me think. He probably just wanted to torture you mercilessly by alerting the two hottest guys at our school right now to your existence."

She gave me a patently horrified look.

"Get real, Bella! Not only do you conveniently have Study Hall when they do, your dad's the school principal. Why do you think he asked you?" I'm pretty sure I had passed from irritated to just plain mean, which was not cool. Luckily, Bella was a bit too preoccupied to mind.

_Just breathe. This too, shall pass. _

Still, she was really freaking about this. I mean, I wasn't exactly thrilled, but really, so we were saddled for a little while with the best dating options our school currently possessed. Though it was pretty big for Forks, this was not CNN-worthy. And even though _he_ had rubbed me the wrong way (I think), I had the notion that dealing with him would still beat dealing with Stanley and her posse during gym hands down. Seemed to me like she was totally flipping her shit over the lesser of the evils. And besides that, we were like, juniors now. When was she gonna grow a pair?

"Seriously, Bella. This is not a big deal. We're just giving them a tour of the school. You'll be fine. I'm pretty sure they don't bite." _That you know of._

"Ok, Ali. But will you do most of the talking? I just embarrass myself when I try to talk to boys," she mumbled dejectedly.

"Ok, Bella. Fine." _Why was I doing this?? _"But you have to promise me you'll at least try. Practice makes perfect, right?"

"Alright," she said. "I think I can talk to the blond one, er…Jasper. He wasn't as…I don't know, weird."

I pulled a face. She thought _he_ was less weird? I wasn't actually sure either of them was normal. _Stop it. You're being a jerk again_, I scolded myself.

I glanced at the clock. Five minutes to the bell…damn, I wish all of my classes went that fast. A glance at Bella assured me that she was aware of the time too.

"You ready for this?" I whispered, as we all began to stuff things in our bags and ready ourselves for escape. She looked absolutely terrified at the thought of fraternizing with these boys, but tried for a brave face anyway.

"They're just boys," she said in voice that I'm sure was meant to be resolute; I didn't point out how much it wavered. Apparently, she'd made some decisions in the last 40 minutes_. Go Bella_.

"Who knows?" she said with a timid smile. "Maybe we'll end up with dates to the prom this year."

I think I openly gaped at her. Who was this Bella, and where had my best friend gone? After attempting (and failing) to picture that scenario, I looked back at her hard- she had to be joking. But if the dreamy smile on her face was anything to go by, maybe she was being at least partially serious. _Huh. _Bella never failed to surprise me. I hoped this newfound self-assurance hung around for a bit, so I didn't have to lead this dance the whole time.

Shaking my head in disbelief, I said, "Alright then Prom Queen, let's go see if these boys are worthy of being on our arms, then." I was impressed when she stood up and said in a much stronger voice, and with a smile on her face, "Let's do it."

**Edward, 1****st**** Period, 8:38 AM**

I didn't pay much attention in Chem first period. For one thing, I had been in advanced classes in Texas and had already covered Chem before I had to move here to Forks anyway. Plus it was the first day of school, and this intro stuff was a joke anyway. That suited me perfectly fine- I was already bored with being stared at and my mind was drifting back to homeroom, or more accurately, back to those girls in homeroom. Bella and Alice. Neither name was exactly common in our generation, so they weren't hard to remember or anything.

Alice- she was damn cute with her hair deliberately sticking up everywhere. She was obviously the more outgoing one of the two, although how much so, I couldn't exactly be sure- all of our verbal exchanges earlier had come off a bit forced to me. And there was an undercurrent I couldn't quite put my finger on. She hadn't seemed exactly impressed with us, which I didn't really understand at all. Well, I guess to be more specific, she hadn't seemed impressed with J at all; I don't even think I registered on her list of people in existence at that point.

Don't get me wrong, it's not like I think I'm God's gift to women or anything, but I think I'm generally a pretty decent looking guy. And J can't help but make the ladies swoon with all that hair and that accent- he's one of the most disgustingly pretty guys I have ever known in my life, as much as it pains me to call my cousin 'pretty'. His cross to bear, I guess. As a result of the family connection, I've heard the term 'fuck-me eyes' in relation to him about twenty times more than I needed or cared to from the mouths of female acquaintances. And the fact that he always looks like he came from a funeral only gets them riled up more. Nothing ruffles his feathers, so he comes off looking like some kind of great fucking mystery of life. And the chicks eat that shit up. I don't know how he fends them off. Or why he wants to. But he does. Pretty successfully too.

I looked over at him now. He was staring straight ahead, not giving anything away, although I could tell by the twitching muscle in his jaw that he was concentrating pretty hardcore on something. And I doubted very much that it was Chem.

My mind wandered to Bella. What was up with that chick anyway? She seemed a bit on the awkward side, even if she was easy on the eyes with her big brown eyes and long brown hair. Then again, I thought, if _I_ was the principal's kid, I'd probably be a social pariah too. In a town this small, it must be pretty hellish, actually. I frowned at that, feeling kind of bad for her. She had seemed terrified of us, until Alice had swooped in and saved the day. I wondered if that was a common occurrence; they seemed pretty tight.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw J look up at the clock. About ten minutes to go before we got our 'tour' of the school. I glanced over at him; he caught my gaze and looked down quickly at his notebook, unopened on the desk and with nothing written in it.

_Interesting. _That wasn't a normal reaction for him. And then the tapping started. Another questioning glance from me. He pointedly ignored me, but looked back up at the clock. I was willing to bet money he was thinking about those girls too. Or rather, at least one of them; him and Alice seemed to have some kind of unspoken pissing contest going on earlier. I have to admit, the thought kind of tickled me. Girls practically fell over themselves trying to get into his lap, not that he really encouraged it. But it couldn't hurt for him to have to work for it a little bit once in awhile.

On that thought, the bell rang and the period ended. I waited for the classroom to clear out for a few seconds before getting up myself and following J outside, where we were supposed to be meeting these girls. More staring from the great citizens of Forks High. You'd think we were a traveling freak show the way these people were ogling us.

Just then, a wave of people cleared away and I saw a black head bobbing up and down, heading in our direction. _Alice_. It took me a couple of seconds to realize that Bella was with her, just mostly hidden from view. I turned my head to look at J when they came into plain view, and was slightly surprised to see that he was standing up straight and stock still, watching their every move with fucking eagle eyes as they approached. I couldn't remember ever seeing him so…formal…or alert, for that matter, in the presence of some random girls. _Very interesting. _I filed my impressions away for later analysis.

_Let the fireworks begin._

**Ali, between 1****st**** and 2****nd**** periods, 8:51 AM**

We made our way back to Banner's room in no real hurry. The hallways were literally buzzing with the news that there were new students- everyone in school knew by now. And if the curious glances and whispered comments were any indicator, I was pretty sure we were involved in the gossip. I noticed that for all her bravado three minutes ago, the closer we got to Banner's room, the farther behind me Bella fell. And not just in steps either. I mean, if I had happened to be any larger than her, you may not have even realized she was behind me.

"Bella!" I growled.

She gave me a sheepish look and moved over next to me. I continued glaring. "What?!" she exclaimed. "Old habits!"

Pfft. Old habits, my ass. We were gonna have a serious talk about this one of these days, I swear.

"Yeah," I said. "Well, I got news- you're not even gonna make it to prom if you don't knock it off."

She made a face at me. As we got nearer to the door, I searched ahead, trying to see if they were already outside waiting for us. I kid you not, it was like the people in the hallway parted liked the Red Sea, making Jasper's blond wavy hair stand out like a beacon.

Immediately, a powerful surge of emotions. Sucker-punched again. A fascination for his breathtaking beauty and an undeniable physical attraction; couldn't write off the rapid racing of my heart or the butterflies swarming in my stomach. Why, why, why did it have to be this way? I knew better than anyone that huge crushes only led to huge letdowns.

Just then he lifted his head and looked me in the eye, like he just…knew I was there. And just like before, I was hit anew with a blast of charged sexuality. I felt like my reaction must be transparent to those around me, but again, he didn't seem visibly affected at the sight of me at all.

It made me irritable; like a puppet on a string. A string that he was holding. That was it exactly: his cool demeanor made me feel like he must deliberately use all that charm to prop himself up, and I absolutely detested the notion that he controlled my emotions regarding him.

_You're being judgmental_, my voice of reason contributed unsolicited. _He hasn't said anything more to you than 'Hello'._ I latched onto that, and repeated it to myself like a mantra as we closed the distance between us.

Determined to behave, I stopped at what I gauged to be a safe distance away, pasted an exuberant smile on my face and exclaimed, "Hi!" I was seriously going to be nice if it killed me. I made certain not to get too close though; regardless of my irrational emotions, my body responded. And every inch closer I got, the higher the temperature between us rose.

I watched his face for any signs that he could feel this…thing…between us, but maddeningly, he didn't even twitch a muscle. Feeling annoyance, I glanced over at Bella instead, who was typically no longer beside me, but had maneuvered herself behind me again and was watching her shoes, a blush creeping up her neck.

Skyward look. _So much for that_.

I turned back around. Jasper's countenance was unchanged, but the look in his eyes had gone from unassuming to guarded, and I noticed he was standing straighter, almost at attention. I briefly wondered if that was part of his southern background, or if there was a military school in there somewhere.

"Miss Brandon," he addressed me. Edward gave us a sideways glance, pretty interested in the exchange, it seemed to me.

"You can call her Ali," Bella piped up, peeking out from behind me. "We all do."

Whoa. _What the hell, Bella_…way to pick the wrong time to get personable.

I sent Bella an exasperated look; she knew I had a hang-up about people calling me by my nickname unless they were close friends. Or had known me since the paste-eating days and refused to call me anything else.

Jasper's expression broke and the dimple came out again as his walls came down for a split second. And Edward not only smiled, but looked almost as if he would laugh. It sent Bella scurrying behind my back again, nearly knocking me off balance. I almost made the near-fatal mistake of having to hold onto Jasper for support, but caught myself. That smile was lethal.

"Well," I said, tamping down both attraction and annoyance. "What's the game plan then?"

I guess I addressed this to Jasper since he had his attention trained on me and Edward seemed to be trying to scope Bella without her noticing. Huh. Maybe she'd end up with a prom date after all. That is, if they ever bothered to look up at each other.

I found it a bit odd that we both seemed to have assigned roles in our little parties of two- one more dominant than the other. It didn't normally bother me, but I was really hating that I had to be the assertive one this time. I pasted that smile right back on my face and looked back to Jasper, where it died an instant death when his eyes met mine again. How was it that when he looked at you, it felt like you were the only two people in the world? I seriously had to get over this rush of…lust. Or it was going to be a long year. Here I'd logged maybe seven and a half total minutes in his presence, and I was thinking about heat, and clothing, or lack thereof, and bed sheets and being achy everywhere. And him. That's just not right.

He gazed intensely into my eyes and spoke, never breaking the eye contact.

"I believe Mr. Banner wanted one of us to retrieve him when you arrived."

_Retrieve_ him? Why did his way of speaking seem so anachronistic to me? I didn't have the time to ponder it. "If you ladies would give me but a minute, I'll go fetch him." And with that, he turned and walked off.

Right. I shook my head to clear the cobwebs. It was like a freaking magnetic field, standing near him. I looked over at Bella and Edward who were both staring at each other, beneath lowered lids, in such a way as to not stare.

Right. Long year.

**Edward, between 1****st**** and 2****nd**** periods, 8:53 AM**

Bella was literally hiding behind Alice. It struck me as ridiculous that anything could hide behind Alice- she's tiny, for chrissake. Was she _really_ that afraid of us? Alice said something. I missed it though; watching Bella too hard. I heard J say 'Miss Brandon' again though and looked over to them.

"You can call her Ali," Bella startled me (okay, maybe all of us) by randomly jumping in.

Alice jumped and gave her friend a dirty look. I heard J chuckle and looked at him. It was one of the first smiles I'd seen from him in a while. I couldn't help but smile myself.

A quick movement from Bella had me looking at her again; she was half behind Alice again, and had somehow managed to almost take her down. I watched Alice sway backwards, teetering as if she might lose her balance, and throw her arms out a little to steady herself. She probably should have just grabbed J- he was standing right there, within reach, and God knows he loves to rescue damsels in distress. I'm sure he wouldn't have minded.

She managed to right herself without his help though, and gave Bella another dirty look. I almost started laughing. These girls were a riot, like…Abbott and Costello. Only way better looking.

"Well," Alice said, the annoyance in her tone evident, "What's the game plan then?"

I stole another glance in Bella's direction; I felt like she was looking at me, but I had yet to catch her in the act. I heard J say something, and before I could figure out what it was, he was gone and walking back into the Chemistry room. There were strange vibrations in the air, making me wonder what I had missed. In any case, there had clearly been something going on between those two, and it wasn't lost on me that we were near the Chemistry room, which I privately found to be both ironic and amusing.

I didn't waste my time with questions though; Bella had been distracted by his leaving, so I took the opportunity to steal another glance. Idly, I pondered what it would take to crack her shell, and how long. I thought it could be interesting. At least those were my thoughts, until Alice interrupted my musings seconds later.

**Ali, between 1****st**** and 2****nd**** periods, 8:54 AM**

"So, Edward," I tried. "Do you go by Edward, or something shorter?" I was sooooo not gonna be the third wheel on an already squeaky bike.

He glanced up and over at me like he was surprised I'd directly addressed him. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed that with his attention on me, Bella had lifted her head and was gazing intently at his profile, hanging on his every word.

Surprising Bella with a fleeting glance, he shifted uncomfortably. "Ah, no. Nothing shorter. Just Edward."

He fell silent again. Ok. Round two. I could see this was going to be like pulling teeth.

I looked warily in the direction Jasper had gone off in, not wanting to get caught talking about him.

"And how about your friend? Jasper's not a very common name."

Another strange look. I sensed that he wasn't quite sure how to handle me. I thought Bella might be more his speed.

"Jasper's my cousin, actually," he finally gave up. "Most people call him J. Some people call him Jazz. He doesn't really care one way or the other."

Try as I might, I really couldn't imagine this guy as a 'J' or a 'Jazz'. Even though it sounded old-fashioned, 'Jasper' kinda seemed to fit him, given the alternatives. But then, I thought, I don't really know him either. I filed that information away in my head for later contemplation.

Silence, again. Exasperated, I wondered if I should even bother asking any more. Edward sure seemed reluctant to talk about himself and it was getting old. I almost thought it might be worth it to have Jasper back.

Another glance in the classroom rewarded me with a view of Jasper talking to Banner, who looked up and saw us standing outside waiting. They both started walking towards us. Looking away immediately, I felt a blush working itself up and wondered if I was forever destined to be caught staring at this guy or worse, picking a fight with him. Neither was particularly desirable; he must think I'm bipolar by now, for sure.

"Alright kids," Banner said, clapping his hands together in front of him. "You've all got 2nd period with Ms. Witmer, right?"

Jasper nodded, as did both Bella & I. "Ok, great," he said, putting his hand on Edward's shoulder since he happened to be nearest. "Why don't you follow me? We're going to bust you out of Study Hall so you can take the grand Forks High tour." He laughed at himself, like he was doing us a favor. Privately I wondered what the benefit of busting us out of Study Hall was; I mean ideally, it could have been Chem…or better yet, Trig.

He began walking away, motioning for us all to follow, which we did in our little pairs, none of us speaking to one another. Could this be any more awkward? I felt like we'd all gotten caught kissing under the bleachers or something and were being dragged to the principal's office.

We all paraded into a room down the hall, causing Ms. Witmer to give us an alarmed sort of look. Banner walked up to her and they had a brief, not so quiet (thanks to Banner) conversation about our ambassadorial duties, while we all stood around being awkward…what a scene we must have made. Both clumped in our pairs, obviously not easy with one another, and not attempting to converse at all. And of course everyone was staring at us, naturally; not everyone in the classroom had been in our homeroom, so some of our classmates were getting their first look at Jasper and Edward. Not that the ones who had already seen them weren't staring too. And us standing there with them was fuel for the fire- I could already see Jessica, Lauren and Bethany sitting in the corner and giving me and Bella the evil eye while they whispered among themselves. Oh yeah, I thought. Gym was gonna be fan-fucking-tastic.

They wouldn't confront me; they never did. Jessica would send her airhead friends after Bella because she was usually too smart to get caught doing the dirty work, and then I would be forced to stand up for her, because I can't sit by and watch those bitches mess with my bestie. There is definitely such a thing as loyal to a fault, and I define it. This is practically a routine by now, with the end result being that once in awhile, I end up in detention. And Stanley too, if she's slipped up and the gods are feeling particularly merciful.

I had no doubt in my mind that she'd start in at the first opportunity, and the thought of being stuck in detention today, the first day of school, really pissed me off. I was just gonna have to keep my cool, no matter what she pulled. And I knew she'd pull something. Ever since the 8th grade, she's loved nothing better than humiliating me, and to do it in front of new boys would just be too hard to resist. That bitch is cold.

As if on cue, she looked straight at me, then Bella who was busy chewing all her fingernails off nervously. That trash had the effrontery to smirk at me, and it's a good thing Banner, oblivious as always, decided to join us again. After giving her one of the nastiest looks in my repertoire, I turned back to my misfit party of four, only to find Bella actually trying to talk to Jasper (knock me over dead), and Edward watching me with a questioning look.

Great, he'd obviously scoped our silent threats. Oh well. At least it hadn't been Adonis over there. Edward didn't make me feel the need to explain myself with his eyes the way Jasper did, for which I thanked every god out there. Daring him to confront me about it with a look of my own, he looked at me curiously for a second and then dropped his gaze back to the floor. Apparently Jasper and Bella had missed the nonverbal battle that had just occurred. Fine by me. Nice to know he wasn't omniscient like I had originally thought, and therefore obviously flawed.

_There you go again, _my conscience admonished. _Guilty_, that other side of my psyche responded. Sigh. There was just gonna be nothing easy about this.

**Bella, 2****nd**** period, 8:58 AM**

I tried to stay as far behind everyone else as I could. I'd seen Jessica Stanley and her friends when we walked in. And honestly, I really don't like confrontation all that much. It doesn't seem to bother Ali; I don't know how she just ignores it when people are talking about her or staring. Sometimes I wish I had even a smidge of her confidence.

I stood there and chewed on my nails, a bad nervous habit that I'd never really been able to shake. And I was. Nervous, I mean. God, I probably looked like a total spaz to these guys.

"So Miss Bella," Jasper said in a low voice, turning in my direction. "Have you lived here long?"

I gave a nervous chuckle, although I did notice that I felt easier talking to him than I had ever felt talking to almost anyone else, except maybe Ali. I decided now was the perfect time to get some practice in.

"All my life," I replied truthfully. I didn't really know how to carry a conversation, so I let it die there. Jasper is a life-saver though. Somehow he seemed to _know _about my crippling personality disorder. He gave me what I guess was an encouraging smile and said, "Well, that's perfect then, isn't it?"

I must have taken on some kind of confused expression, because he continued on. "I wouldn't want a tour of the place from anyone who wasn't as familiar with it," he said with a beautiful smile. He really did have a beautiful smile.

I warmed up to the subject a little. With a self-conscious chuckle, I said, "I'm still not sure why they picked me to do this. Surely you can tell Ali is a better choice. She's lived here all her life too." I'd never really though about it before, but for some reason bringing it up made me realize exactly how…well, lonely, life would have been if she hadn't been here.

He smiled at me a little cryptically and drawled, "Well, I'm glad I've had the chance to meet the both of you this fine morning, and that's the truth, Miss Bella."

I giggled a little at him, and the smile turned broader, although it seemed somehow…sad to me. Because I'm the freak-tard I am, I said the first thing that came to my mind which was, "Wow, you have a really beautiful smile." _Damndamndamn_. This is why I don't talk to boys. Ohmigod. Did I really just say that? I could feel all the blood in my body rushing to my cheeks.

He gave me a big grin then, one that lit up his entire face. If I'd thought his previous smile was something to behold, there were just no words to compare for a genuine smile. I stood there dumbfounded.

"You did, and thank you," he responded with a little chuckle.

Horrified that I'd actually said it out loud, I brought my hands up to cover my flaming cheeks and wished the ground would just open up and swallow me whole. I peeked through my fingers at Jasper, almost afraid to look for fear of scaring him off. If I hadn't scared him off, surely he had to be literally rolling on the floor with laughter.

To his credit, he was still standing there with only a hint of the mirth I'm sure I inspired on his stoic features. God, I really needed to take a lesson from him. He caught me peeking and gave me a conspiratorial grin. I laughed out loud; I couldn't help myself. There was just something about him that felt…not as uncomfortable as when I tried to converse with any other guy.

I turned my head before he could make any more conversation sure to make me look like the Forks village idiot, and caught a glimpse of Edward, who was looking at Ali's profile. I shuddered. If I could hardly keep my inner pyscho from Jasper, there was no way I could be caught dead trying to talk to Edward. Honestly, he looked like he was more interested in Ali anyway, which make me kinda depressed and relieved all at the same time.

He turned his head back in our direction and I panicked, quickly turning my own head and hoping I didn't just get caught staring. Luckily, Banner was approaching; I hoped it was enough of a distraction to get me off the hook.

**Ali, 2****nd**** period, 9:04 AM**

"Ok, kids," Banner boomed. "You're free-until 3rd period anyway." He winked at me and chortled to himself. I rolled my eyes again, my patience with this day, week, month already almost spent.

"Have fun and don't do anything I wouldn't do!" he yelled as he walked away, laughing to himself.

No worries there, I thought acerbically. And he was just abandoning us. _Spectacular_. With a gesture of disgusted disbelief, I turned back to find three pairs of eyes trained on me, each sporting a different expression. Edward was eyeing me with open curiosity. Bella was still doing the shrinking violet thing she was so good at and looked at me hesitantly. Jasper regarded me with that cool, steady gaze that he seemed to excel at, and I realized they were all waiting on me.

Apparently I'd been elected the de facto ringleader. Shocker.

"Right," I said, giving Bella a you-owe-me-one glare and turning to leave the classroom. I was getting annoyed at being stared at. Unable to keep the sarcasm out of my tone, I said as I walked, "Better get on with the tour then. Gotta make sure we can fit it all in one class period."

Which was a complete joke since a "tour" of Forks High, and probably all of Forks for that matter, could be done satisfactorily in under half an hour.

Not really sure where to begin, since I'd never signed up for the tour myself, I stopped, turned back around and figured I'd ask them for some input.

"Alright guys. What's first on your sightseeing list? Anything in particular?"

Edward kind of shrugged. Jasper looked at all of us, and said with what seemed to me a mysterious kind of smirk, "Apparently, we're at your disposal. Wherever you go we'll follow."

Okay seriously, was it just me, or did everything he said have some kind of double entendre?? I narrowed my eyes at him, trying to decide if he was doing it on purpose. I mean, he couldn't possibly know that I was having trouble not jumping him. Could he?

"How bout the library?" Bella suggested in a small voice.

Bella loves the library, and by loves the library, I mean she eats, sleeps, breathes and lives the library. She's the only person I know who reads more than I do, she like…consumes books. She even volunteers to reshelf books in the school library during Study Halls…when she's not asked to show new boys around the school, anyway. And not surprisingly, she works after school some days at Forks Public Library. I was not kidding about this girl being the epitome of inoffensive.

Seemed as good a starting point as any to me. "Any objections to the library? Going once? Twice?" I inquired.

No one seemed to have any better suggestions, so I said, "Alright then, this way," and turned down a hall to take us to the library. As I did so, I pointed out classrooms and other important fixtures we passed… drinking fountains, bathrooms with broken smoke detectors, etc. When we got to the library, I introduced them to the librarian, and tried to prompt Bella into talking a little. Unfortunately, even her love for the library wasn't making her bite, so we quickly left and continued on, hitting the cafeteria, the gym, the Aud, the pool, and the radio room.

Interesting fact: Forks High, which doesn't even have a football team, has a radio room. People can come in before and after school, during lunch and Study Halls and play at DJ'ing… whatever they feel like hearing, so long as the teachers don't find it offensive in any way. I've always found this a little weird for such a small school, personally. And not many people took advantage of it either; seems like a colossal waste to me.

Edward seemed to perk right up though, when I pointed it out. Somewhere along the line, we had fallen into pairs again, but this time around we had divided into couples. Jasper and Bella were straggling about 10 feet behind us as we walked around outside, exploring the grounds. He had somehow gotten her to open up a little and was being extremely attentive to her, encouraging her to speak and be spoken to. Edward was ambling alongside me, not saying much. From behind me, I heard Bella laugh. Clearly Jasper was using that magic tongue to loosen her up. Throwing a glance over my shoulder, and seeing them huddled together smiling and laughing kind of made me jealous. I mean, I understand she was more comfortable with him, but jeez. Unable to keep a little scowl from escaping, I told myself it didn't matter anyway. I wasn't out here trying to score a date. Unfortunately, that didn't really appease my sulky side.

When I looked up again, I found Edward watching me.

"You don't really like us much, do you?" he asked quietly.

I was so shocked, that I almost came completely to a standstill, although I couldn't honestly say whether I was more astonished that he was addressing me directly, or at the question he was posing. I'm really glad I was able to keep myself from abruptly stopping, because in all likelihood, it would have ended with me on the ground, and Jasper on top of me, given our current positions. And as much as my hormones delighted in that idea, indeed practically begged for such an 'accident,' I just did not think I was equipped to handle that right now.

I glanced behind me before I even tried to answer that loaded question; no way did I want to explain my strange misgivings about either of these two to one of them, but since my hand was forced, I'd take Edward over Jasper any day. He didn't make me act or feel like a 10 year old. Seizing the opportunity while Bella distracted him, I said in a hushed tone, "Look, Edward. It's not that I don't like you. Honestly, I don't even know you. Yet. But I'm just gonna lay it all out there."

He looked at me expectantly.

"I'm not trying to be offensive here," I prevaricated, still a little unsure of what to say. "You guys showing up is like the biggest event in Forks since Summer Greco fell off the Miss Forks float and broke her leg during the Annual Fireman's Parade.

He looked questioningly at me now, clearly not grasping the significance of that.

"Yeah, that was in like, 1987," I responded.

"Ah," he remarked.

"So, you really have no idea how much trouble it causes for Bella to be singled out to "show you around," I said, using finger quotes, "which, by the way is something that's never happened before. That I'm aware of anyway. Sometimes, I swear Charlie Swan has shit for brains," I muttered.

Don't get me wrong, I love him like he's my own dad (most days), but you really wouldn't think he spend most of his life around teenagers. I was kinda fired up and already knew I'd be ranting in the very near future, but that's just the kind of person I am. I occasionally need to get it all out there, and like the answers or not, Edward had invited them.

"Charlie Swan," he mused. "That's the principle, right. Bella's dad." He looked to me for confirmation.

"The one and only," I stated. "And who apparently has less in the way of observational skills than a gnat. I mean, really. He has to know she gets picked on and.."

"Bella gets picked on?" Edward asked. "Why? And by who?" He seemed very interested in this line of questioning.

"By who?" I asked almost incredulously. "By practically everyone! Have you ever had the pleasure of being both shy and the principle's kid, in a small town? Tell me you haven't noticed that she's not exactly Little Miss Extrovert, what with all the scoping I've seen going down this morning."

He looked up at me with a nervous laugh, although I noticed he didn't deny it. I was an a roll now, too.

"I can't be-lieve she's talking to your cousin back there. That's got to be some kind of record, seriously."

It was still rubbing me the wrong way too. Bella was getting an awful lot of Jasper's time and effort, and it was making me sulky. Edward seemed equally chafed by the Bobsey twins. Glancing behind us with a furrowed brow, he said, "Yeah, well. J does have a special way with people."

"A 'special way'?!" I practically snorted. "Is that what you call it?"

Oh, shut up Brandon, I berated myself, too late. Now I'd really put my foot in it.

Edward glanced at me with interest, seemingly answering his own question after hearing the change in my tone. "Oh…I get it. So its not me at all…There's something about J that bothers you," he commented with what I perceived to be a smug smile.

_Something that bothers me_? Yes, I thought hysterically. Looking at Jasper caused my mind to be filled with the simultaneous notions that birth control is a must, cigarettes and alcohol would be extremely useful right now, and physical violence may not be out of the question. Yes. Yes, I think I can say with certainty, that bothers me. But there was no way Edward was hearing that from me. Trying for damage control, I said, "Look. I'm sorry I said that. I don't know you, or him, from Adam, and have no real reason to be annoyed by him."

"But you are," Edward remarked. At my blank look, he prompted, "Annoyed by him."

I remained silent. I'd already said way too much considering we weren't even through second period yet. He wasn't done yet though.

"J makes you edgy. He gets your back up for some reason and its frustrating the hell out of you that you don't know why. Maybe…because you're not in control?"

What the hell, was this guy a mind reader? Mind reader or not, I totally did not feel like this was a conversation we knew each other well enough to have. When in doubt, deny, deny, deny. That's my motto.

"I don't know what you're talking about," I said with a scowl, which didn't seem to dissuade this new personable Edward.

"Don't worry," he said with a grin. "I won't tell him. But for what its worth- he can probably already tell. He's pretty in touch with people." As if the statement needed emphasis, he jerked his hand back towards the new and improved Bella Swan.

I threw daggers in Edward's direction with my eyes. I did not like feeling like the butt of a joke. Especially not one being told by some slicked back new kid, who didn't know me, or Bella or Forks from beans.

"What?!" he laughed. "It's true, scout's honor. J's got some kind of…built in people meter." A hint of frustration entered his voice.

I silently, and ineffectually, mulled that bit of information over.

"For what its worth," he remarked conspiratorially, "I think you interest him. Possibly, a lot."

"What?" I asked, kind of violently. "How could you know something like that after knowing me one whole hour? And, why would you think I care?" I finished off, lashing out with frustration, knowing everything I was saying only helped to disprove my point.

Edward looked straight in my face and said predictably, "Oh, you care all right." I sputtered. "Calm down," he replied. "Keep in mind that our acquaintance may be new, but I've known my cousin all my life. And I'm telling you, you've piqued his interest."

I really just did not know how to react to this. A blush was beginning to stain my cheeks, I could tell. My ovaries were practically weeping with happiness at such a declaration. But my rational mind wouldn't let it lie. However, neither was it being particularly helpful right this moment. I decided on truth.

"Ok, I really have no idea what to say to that, and to be honest this conversation has been kind of surreal, so I'm just going to forget we had it," I said, a little huffily, I'm ashamed to admit. I stole a glance behind me and practically fell over dead when I saw Bella, obviously telling a story, gesticulating madly and smiling radiantly. And Jasper focused on her every word. I was amazed, but jealousy was eating me alive, no matter how irrational the idea was. And then I was annoyed, because I was jealous. Desperately, I thought that there was no way Jasper could 'read' me…I couldn't even read me right now.

As if privy to my thoughts, Edward chimed in, "You'll see, soon enough, if I'm right. Which I think I might be," he said with a smirk.

Incredulous, I know for a fact that I openly gaped at him. Just then, the bell rang, signaling the end of second period, and students erupted from classrooms on either side of us. Still staring open-mouthed at Edward, I completely forgot to be self-conscious until Jasper walked past me, brushing me slightly (totally not necessary!) and murmuring in a low voice, "Miss Alice" as if to say goodbye. I was treated to that beautiful smile one more time, and vaguely heard Edward's voice off to the side somewhere saying, "Later, Brandon- thanks for the tour."

With that parting shot, he and Jasper sauntered away without looking back; I stood frozen in the hall, my mouth working like a fish, I'm sure, and with Bella blabbering on excitedly off to the side of me somewhere, I watched them disappear from sight.

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**Leave some love? Hate? GO FOR IT! Reviews might make Jasper and Bella more talkative...  
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	3. Sometimes You Just Can't Win

**I told you I'd have some more up shortly :D Probably gonna be a little wait for upcoming chapters though- having some company for the next few days. On the upside, we're heading to a 100 Monkeys show, so I should have some fresh Jacks- er, Jasper inspiration for upcoming stuffs ; ) Hope you like!**

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**Bella, between 2****nd**** and 3****rd**** periods, 9:53 AM**

"Good bye, Miss Bella," Jasper said to me as he and Edward turned to leave for next period. I saw him walk by Ali and say something to her, but was too consumed by my own sense of accomplishment to notice her go stock-still at first.

I could hardly believe it- I'd just spent almost the entire period talking to Jasper. Actually talking too, not just one words answers to his questions! He was so incredibly easy to converse with after I'd gotten over my initial embarrassment earlier. But that's because he really didn't give me a chance to make a dumbass of myself, which I was thanking him for profusely in my mind.

His conversational skills were unmatched, I thought in some amazement. He wasn't pushy or prying, and he definitely didn't try to dominate. It was more like…there was something about him that inspired me to share things about myself and my life. His accent didn't hurt either, I thought excitedly as I watched them disappear around the corner; I could listen to it all day and not get tired of it.

Ali would be so proud of me! I turned to her, dying to share my joy, only to find her standing there in the middle of the hall staring in the direction the boys had just walked. She seemed to be in some kind of stupor, and it kind of had me panicked that I had missed something.

"Ali. Ali! Ali…."

**Ali, between 2****nd**** and 3****rd**** periods, 9:55 AM**

"Ali. Ali! Ali….helllloooooo?!" I snapped back to awareness to find Bella in my face yelling my name. Starting, I kind of jumped backwards. Looking back down the hall, I saw that both Jasper and Edward had disappeared from sight. As a matter of fact, most everyone had; the hallway was really starting to clear out. Damn, the bell was about to ring. We were gonna be late for class.

"Ali, where were you? You were like…gone," Bella said with a concerned frown, hovering around me. "Knock it off Bell," I said as I waved my hands at her dismissively; the way she was flapping her arms in my face was less than awesome, and honestly at the moment I was more worried about making it to class on time. I may not be Bella Swan, but I'm no class ditcher either.

"Ali? What was that all about?" Bella demanded. I was a little surprised, I admit. She's not normally the confrontational type, and she liked being on time too.

"Bella, it was nothing. Just zoned out, that's all," I responded, distracted as all hell.

She eyed me suspiciously. "It was so not 'nothing' and you're so going to tell me. Now."

"Bella, seriously. Can we talk about it later? The bell's about to…" Just then, the bell rang, and here we were still standing in the hallway. "Oh, damn," I cursed. "Bella, c'mon. We're late now."

Indecision warred with curiosity on her face. Clearly, she really wanted to know what was up with me, but her desire to get to class was pretty strong too. When your dad's the principal, life's not always easy.

"Alright, fine," she conceded, and we started jogging down the hall. I turned left to get to American History and she kept going straight, on her way to Chem. "But you'd better spill at lunch!" she yelled after me.

"I will, I will," I promised, waving her off.

**Jasper, 3****rd**** period, 9:58 AM**

I made my way to American History in a pretty good mood and took a seat. The people staring at me didn't really bother me too much- I'm new. I'd been on the other side of the situation enough not to take it personally. It would die down after a few days.

I thought back to last period as I waited for the class to convene and the bell to ring. Bella was absolutely charming. She has no idea how delightful she is to talk to; almost like a child. She tends to speak before thinking, making her answers very honest, very frank. It worked well in my favor that she clearly overcame her inhibition about talking to me relatively quickly; once I'd asked her a few questions for the sake of conversation, she opened right up. Or maybe spilled right over would be a better way to put it. And she loved to talk about Alice. I'd quickly decided that talking about Alice while watching her walk in front of me was a perfect way to pass time.

The bell rang and the teacher closed the door. My mind couldn't seem to focus though; I kept going back to Bella's words. It had been Ali this, Ali that. I chuckled to myself when I considered that Alice probably wouldn't much care for me knowing about that scissors incident in 3rd grade.

I was distracted from my reverie when the door pushed open. I looked up idly, only to catch my breath. It was Alice. Apparently we had two class periods together one right after the other; that would work out nicely if she'd allow me to walk her to class. I tried like hell not to grin like an idiot.

Both of us noticed that there was only one empty seat in the room, the one to my immediate right, at the same time. I could tell by the scowl she summoned once she'd started walking into the room. After Mr. Nicastro, I think his name is, heckled her for a minute she looked positively murderous, although she seemed to be alternating that death glare between me and the brunette who'd been ogling me on the other side of the empty seat. I wish I knew why she seemed so angry with me, but I convinced myself I would have time to figure that out and right it soon enough.

**Ali, 3****rd**** period, 10:01 AM**

I stopped abruptly in front of Mr. Nicastro's door and tried to catch my breath before attempting to let myself in as unobtrusively as possible, which really never works. I entered the room, throwing a glance at Mr. Nicastro, and fervently hoping he wouldn't single me out for being late, even though I knew he would. It was just the kind of guy he was; he loved humiliating students to teach lessons. Last year during Global Studies, when Alicia Moore had fallen asleep during a movie, he had the whole rest of the class sneak out of the room 2 minutes before the bell, and let her be woken by the bell, only to freak out and be confronted by him, and the whole (laughing) class in the hallway. It was really, really funny. But kinda mean too. I had really hoped I'd never be on the receiving end of his humor. _Damn_.

"Ali, nice of you to join us," he addressed me with an easygoing smile. "Get lost?" he inquired politely, knowing full well that anyone who had been through one school year at Forks High couldn't really 'get lost.'

I blushed furiously, I'm sure, as my peers snickered. Sheer nerves caused me to respond with a little white lie to save some face, and I seriously hoped Mr. N didn't run into Coach Carter today to confirm my story. "Sorry, Mr. Nicastro, "I mumbled. "I, ah…ran into, uh…Coach Carter in the hallway. And he wanted to talk to me about the tennis team," I finished up quickly. It's no secret that I play on our school tennis team, and the softball team, but I still got a suspicious look cuz I'm pretty sure Mr. N knew that nobody was worrying about tennis on the first day of school, when practice wouldn't really begin in earnest for another month or so.

"Right, Ali," he stated with an obvious amount of disbelief in his tone. "Take a seat."

I turned around quickly and faced the kids in my class, only to find (with no little amount of absolute horror) that there was one seat left. And it was squarely between Jessica Stanley…and Jasper. _Shitshitshit_.

What had I done to offend the gods so? I asked myself miserably. I picked up my suddenly leaden feet and made my way to the seat, completely aware that Jessica was completely unconcerned with me and ogling Jasper suggestively, while he was staring at me again, watching my approach with a smug little smile playing about his lips.

This was so seriously not fair it was….not fair, I thought, hugely frustrated. What gave him the right to be in my third period class?? And worse, still, now I would have to deal with Stanley too. This was just made up of pure suck. Why was I not allowed some alone time to deal with everything that had happened so far this morning? There was no way I was going to be able to overanalyze my conversation with Edward with Jessica glaring holes in my right side and Jasper staring at me all period, like I was pretty sure he was going to do, if the morning's pattern was to be followed.

By the time I reached the seat I was in a really pissy mood and a bit mad at myself for being insistent about getting to class. I threw my bookbag down on the floor and tried to sit gracefully, attempting to look covertly at Jasper without him noticing. Then I bent down in my seat, letting my hair swing down as far as it would (and wishing for all the world that I kept it a lot longer just for this moment) as I rummaged in my bag looking for a notebook and a pen. Damndamndamn, I needed to be more organized.

Because my life was meant to be hard today, as I grabbed the first notebook I felt, my latest Cosmo magazine came out with it, having gotten stuck on the spiral binding of the notebook, and slid out onto the floor between my desk and Jasper's, its hot pink lettering proclaiming loudly '101 Ways to Please Your Man'. The magazine slid out of my reach, landing at Jasper's feet. I think I may have almost started to cry. Or have an allergic reaction. Closing my eyes in complete disbelief that I could be so ganged up on today, I was startled to feel a nudge to my shoulder as Jasper picked up my magazine and silently handed it back to me, smug smile still in place. Well, silently in the literal sense anyway. It seemed to me that he was pretty good at talking without talking. His smile grew even more insufferable as his eyes roamed over the cover article, and when he raised one eyebrow at me I pretty much just wanted to fall over dead.

I'm pretty sure I snatched the magazine away ungratefully and hastily shoved it back into my bag. I then proceeded to not hear an entire word Mr. Nicastro said the entire period (thank the gods this was only the first day of school and nothing important was going on) while I glued my gaze onto the back of Tyler Crowley's head for the next 50 minutes. I didn't even acknowledge Jessica's dirty looks, and I tried like hell to ignore it every time Jasper looked in my direction, which was pretty often if the prickles on the back of my neck were to be trusted. This was sooooo not gonna work. Tomorrow, I resolved to be the first person here so I could sit as far away from him as humanly possible.

Predictably, I couldn't stop myself from glancing in his direction right before class ended. And predictably, he was watching me, although I noticed it was with a furrowed brow and a puzzled expression. As he lifted his gaze to meet mine, the bell rang, causing me to jump and I was out of the seat, bag in hand, like a shot. And down the hall without looking back. And seriously debating skipping class for the first time in my life, just in case I found myself face-to-face with either Jasper or Edward again. It seemed utterly impossible that my entire daily schedule should include one of those two in every class; I mean, even Bella and I didn't have every class together!

**Edward, before 4****th**** period, 10:50 AM**

J and I had English together 4th period. We ran into each other as we were entering the classroom and he followed me, setting his stuff down on the desk next to the one I chose. He didn't say anything to me, but he had this expression on his face that made me feel like he was trying to suppress the mother of all shit-eating grins. It kind of irked me.

"What gives?" I asked bluntly.

He turned to look at me and said, "What are you talking about?"

"Aw, c'mon J. Don't give me that bullshit. Why do you look like you just got some in a janitor's closet?"

He scoffed at me and gave me the I-can't-believe-you-just-said-that look. I didn't drop my gaze.

"What?!" he asked. "I'm just enjoying my classes, that's all."

Now it was my turn for the look of disbelief. "Say what, brother? Are we going to the same school?"

He didn't respond, just kept on looking smug to irritate the shit out of me. I gave in. "Alright fine, be that way. So what were you and Bella talking about earlier?" I tried to go for casual.

He narrowed his eyes in my direction and said, "Nothing special. Get the feeling she doesn't have the opportunity to talk much."

"So you let her?" Of course he did.

He smirked and said "Who am I to begrudge a lady what she wants?"

I gave him a hard glare. Cryptic fucker. You know, as much as I love J, in a completely familial, non-gay manner, sometimes I want to smack him.

His pretty face was literally saved by the bell, and Mrs. Winton walking in and shutting the door behind her.

**Ali, 4****th**** period, 10:54 AM**

My luck hadn't been awesome so far today, so I decided to walk casually by the Art room before actually entering. I figured if nothing else, Jasper's hair would alert me if he was going to be invading that class too.

When I saw no obvious indication of either Jasper or Edward through the open door, I warily stuck my head in to assess the situation further. Coast clear. With a little more bounce in my step, I eagerly entered the room, chose a seat and closed my eyes, breathing a deep sigh of relief and thanking the gods that this sanctuary was not to be threatened.

And then Esme made her entrance, sailing in just as the bell rang, and noisily making her way toward me. Facepalm. This was turning out to be a stellar year. Esme was exactly what I didn't need right now. Although, I conceded, better than Jasper. Marginally. At least her I could tune out and not have to worry about; she loved to hear herself talk.

"Ali, how's it going?" She asked me with a sly look on her face. "I heard you and Bella got to spend all 2nd period with our new resident hotties….That's so hot. So, dish. Like, now!" she demanded.

I rolled my eyes. "Please Esme, it was no big deal. Bella managed to get herself volunteered to give them a 'tour'," I remarked, complete with finger quotes, "as if anyone else has ever gotten a tour here. And you know Bella," I continued. "She completely froze up when Banner asked her in front of them, so I had to step in and save the day."

"Oh please, Ali…like you weren't positively dying to get an up close look at those two," Esme purred. "You've got Stanley positively in a lather, for making a move on that territory before she could even introduce herself," Esme bubbled excitedly.

Ok, that really shouldn't make me feel so good. I am an awful person, I decided. At least it explained the dirty looks in History last period.

"I heard that the tall one, Edward, is just rolling in it. Apparently his dad is like, some fancy doctor or something," she continued, practically tripping over her own words in her excitement. "Now that's my kind of guy," she declared.

"Seriously, Esme. You can't just go after a guy for his money," I said, exasperated. She never failed to keep me on my toes. "And who cares if he's loaded?"

"Or hot?" she interjected.

"Or hot," I echoed dryly. "You really ought to at least talk to him before you start naming your kids together."

"I bet you got to talk to him," she responded suggestively. "What's he like?"

"I don't know," I prevaricated. "He's not very talkative. About the only thing I found out is that Jasper is his cousin, and he goes by J or Jazz, depending on who you talk to."

"Ooooh," she squealed. "That's the blond one, right? I can so see him as a 'Jazz.' That's hot. He's pretty hot too."

"Yeah, well, that's about all I found out," I remarked, ignoring her observations on Jasper's hot factor. Or at least, all I found out that she needed to know, I thought.

I don't think she believed me though. She gave me a calculating look and commented, "You know, he was watching you awfully hard in homeroom."

Kind of annoyed that I couldn't escape Jasper even when he wasn't here, I said, maybe a little harsher than was necessary, "Who? I don't know what you're talking about." I immediately looked down and started making myself unnecessarily busy with stuff inside my book bag.

Never stupid, Esme nodded her head slowly and said, "Uh-huh." But she didn't press it, which was all kinds of odd for her. She further surprised me by staying silent the entire rest of the period, and only saying, "See you later, Ali," after class was over. I knew I wouldn't see her at lunch; she was one of those students who was 18 even though she was only a junior, and therefore allowed to leave for lunch with the seniors. I waved at her, and watched her meet up with Rosalie Hale, the 'It' girl of the Senior class. For about two seconds I envied Rosalie her popularity and good looks, and envied Esme for being confident enough to switch between the Forks High social groups like that. She made it look so easy.

I stopped off at my locker to exchange some stuff, and then I made my way to the cafeteria, treading carefully as I went. Last period had been almost enjoyable, but I was worried about how lunch would go down. On some level, I kind of expected the new boys to sit with Bella and I, since we were pretty much the only people they had conversed with, I assumed. On the other hand, if they did do that, I thought it pretty unlikely that I would be able to eat, and I didn't relish the thought of being gawked at by the rest of the student body either.

Finding Bella was no problem; we always sat by ourselves at the same table, unless Esme elected not to leave for lunch. Today though, I was hit by a surprise when I reached the cafeteria- Bella was not alone. She was in her usual seat waiting for me, but was surrounded by Jessica Stanley and her gang, and was sitting drawn up tightly with her arms crossed and her eyes closed as she presumably pretended they weren't there.

Wonderful. I wasn't even going to have to wait until Gym to get into shit with Stanley. I was going to end up in detention, I just knew it.

I stalked up to my usual seat, made an elaborate show of pulling my chair out and sitting down, and said, "Hey, Bell," not acknowledging the other girls at all.

Jessica turned on me right away, and greeted me with a sicky-sweet smile. "Hey Ali," she said. "Long time, no see."

I gave her a forced laugh, and said, "Yeah." I had an inkling about where her agenda might be headed, and I didn't want any part in that. She'd made a show out of hating me for years, and I wasn't about to give that up so easily. The enmity between us was so pronounced that some of our other classmates were openly goggling to see us sitting at the same table. Of course, then again, a lot of them had witnessed several of our finer moments in Junior High too, when we…or at least, I, was not so grown up. I'm pretty sure Jessica never actually reached that stage. Even though I would never subject myself to willingly going to the same school as her, I have always thought it would be amusing to see her get her ass handed to her in college when she finds out that no one actually cares about her or her antics.

Continuing on as if I hadn't just ignored her hardcore, she said, "You know Ali, we thought we would come over and sit with you guys this year…it must get pretty lonely when no one else will, and you've only got Bella to talk to."

The nerve. What did all these people have against Bella anyway? Feeling the urge to punch something, like maybe Jessica's face, I bit out harshly, "Thanks, Jess. I wouldn't have pegged you to be so …_thoughtful_." I gave her a sicky-sweet smile of my own and went about ignoring her again.

One of the other girls finally piped up, "Are the new boys going to be here soon?", which had Jessica shooting visual daggers at her.

I freaking knew they would be trouble. I'd literally had more than I could take for the day. I looked over their heads to see Edward coming in the door with a confused expression on his face, probably because he'd seen me and Jessica giving each other dirty looks 2 periods ago, and now here she was, practically sitting in our laps and fawning over us.

Where was Jasper though?

Catching Edward's eye and giving him an I-told-you-so eye roll, I seized the opportunity and ran with it. I grabbed Bella's arm in one hand and her book bag in the other, as I pointed toward the door and said, "Oh, speaking of the devil…"

I pulled her along behind me and as we approached Edward, who was sporting an even more confused expression now and hesitated as if he might stop to question us, I dryly remarked, "By all means, don't keep your admirers waiting." Then with one pointed glance towards the table we had just abandoned, I sailed out the door with Bella in tow. She was watching me curiously, but not questioning my motives, so I kept walking until we reached the front door, and marched her out of it.

**Edward, lunch, 11:46 AM**

Lunch, finally. I was like, starving. I still hadn't really met anyone, except some guy named Mike in my Trig class third period, who pretty much wouldn't shut up. Everyone else seemed content to stare; it made me wonder if they were just antisocial or if they were scared of me. Or maybe I smelled. Who knows?

Anyway, I figured I'd probably run into Ali and Bella at lunch- at least I'd had an actual conversation with Ali today. And I didn't have J with me this time, so probably no weird tension in the air. He'd gone out to his car, forgoing lunch, with the excuse that he'd had this riff stuck in his head all day and he wanted to give it a go on the acoustic he keeps in the trunk all the time. I was pretty sure that was bull and shit though, unless this riff resembled a five foot tall, black-haired conundrum with big eyes and a fierce scowl. Although sometimes he definitely treats that guitar like his best girl, I had to admit.

I got to the cafeteria and immediately began scanning the heads for long chocolate colored hair. No sooner did I find what I was looking for did Alice jump up, jerking Bella with, and stalk over to me.

"By all means, don't keep your admirers waiting," she said snarkily as she looked towards the table they had just vacated. Then she huffed off, Bella hurrying behind her. She gave me a glance that looked almost apologetic before they disappeared from sight. _Christ on a crutch, what was that about? _I looked back at the table she'd gestured to. There were four girls sitting there, one of them eyeballing me like I was the last strapless mini at Charlotte Russe and I'd just gone on sale. The hair on the back of my neck prickled.

Well too bad, I was fucking hungry. I guessed I could always get something to go and join J out in the car. I tunnel-visioned the door to the lunch line and tried to pretend I hadn't seen Stalker Chick and her friends, only to be thwarted by Mike the Mouth who was coming out of the other end of the lunch line and walking my way.

"Hey, Cullen, what's up!" he practically screamed. I think I flinched. "So how's Forks treatin' ya?" he asked familiarly, accompanied by a slap to the shoulder, like we hadn't just known each other for 45 minutes or so. Before I could even get a response out, Stalkerella had popped up behind him and said sweetly, "Hi Mike! Can you introduce me to your friend?" with an obnoxious attempt at coy on her face.

Mike looked at her dumbly for a minute, then said, "Oh yeah sure. Jess- this is Ed Cullen. Ed, Jess Stanley." It chafed to hear him call me that, but I sensed that to politely correct him would prolong this conversation, which I was definitely not interested in at the moment.

"Nice to meet you," I said to the girl, who looked like she was just looking for a reason to rub up against me. I tried to beat her to the next sentence so I could make an excuse and take off (_seriously, fuck food right now_), but she cut me off.

"We have some extra room at our table if you want to sit with us, Ed. And I know my friends would like to meet you." She glanced in the direction of the other three girls, who all appeared to be practically salivating in my general direction. Creepy.

"Ah, thanks for the offer, but I'm looking for J- have you seen him?" I directed my words at Mike, hoping to get a guy answer of 'yes' or 'no' and get the fuck out of here. Jessica cut him off at the pass.

"Who's J? Is that your friend I saw you with earlier? The blond one?" she asked silkily.

"Uh, yeah- that's him. Seen him?" I asked tersely. I was losing patience for this.

"No, I definitely haven't seen him recently," she said with a wink. "I think I'd remember if I had."

Oh merciful Lord, take me now. I decided to make a break for it.

"Ok, well thanks. Nice to meet you again. Mike- catch up with ya later," I said quickly, and turning away. Surely she wouldn't follow me. Wrong.

"So Ed," she said, struggling to catch up to me as I went out the door, "Is there anything I can do to help you guys get settled in?" implying that she was game for literally _anything_.

"Ah, no thanks, we're doing great so far." I kept on walking, hoping to shake her, but I had bad feeling she was kind of like dysentery that way. Like a beacon of hope, I saw a men's room up ahead on my left. Not giving her any room to say any more, I said, "I'll, uh, see you later- I've got to use the bathroom," and dove inside before she could respond.

Inside the bathroom, I leaned against a wall and congratulated myself on my narrow escape. All of a sudden, Ali's dirty-look campaign from Study Hall this morning made more sense. Even though I hadn't known either of them for very long, I could already see how oil and water they were.

I knew this was gonna require some strategizing to stay out of this chick's line of fire; I figured it wouldn't be a bad idea to get some pointers from J. And maybe warn him. But right now I had more pressing matters to attend to. I could still hear footsteps pacing and huffy breathing just outside the door. How long was she gonna wait there? Food looked like a pretty bleak prospect at the moment, which darkened my mood considerably.

After about fifteen minutes, she gave up. I waited another minute to make sure before poking my head out the door. Coast clear, I quickly exited and practically ran in the other direction. Looking at my watch, I realized there was only about 7 minutes left of the lunch period. _Damn. _I passed the student lounge and popped my head in, thinking maybe Ali and Bella had gone in there. No such luck. But there was a couple of vending machines. I quickly helped myself to a Coke and a package of Combos, the best I was gonna get today unfortunately, and headed back out into the hall.

There was no point in joining J at the car now; I turned back the way I had come and carefully and alertly made my way to the library, in a last ditch effort.

**Ali, lunch, 11:43 AM**

"Ali, where are we going?" Bella finally asked, stopping dead outside of the entrance.

"Oh, c'mon Bella. You seriously can't have wanted to sit with Stanley and the sharks."

"Well, no," she mumbled. "You should have heard them before you got there. They only wanted to sit there because they figured Jasper and Edward would."

"Yeah, I kind of worked that one out on my own," I said without sarcasm. "I don't need them making my life any harder today, that's all."

As if on cue, a glint of light- like glare off of something, caught both of our attention out in the parking lot. We both looked, only to find (much to my chagrin) that the glare was coming off of a guitar, being held by none other than Jasper himself. He was seated on the rear hood of what I presumed is his convertible (which looked suspiciously like a Vintage Jag to me), feet propped up in the back seat, strumming idly away and watching our every movement.

So that's where he is, one part of my brain clamored. Damn him for being everywhere I want to be, another part railed. Yet another small part of my brain thrilled over the fact that he obviously played a guitar…I love me a musical boy. And drove a fancy car. And looked so very good doing it. It was like God had dropped him in Forks just for me to stare at.

"Oh, look Ali! It's Jasper!" She raised one hand high in the air and started waving madly in his direction.

Horrified, I said through my teeth, "Bella. Stop. Now." I watched Jasper lift his hand to wave back to her, and thought for one awful split second that he might come over and join us, which was definitely the last thing I needed or wanted right this second. His hand stopped strumming momentarily as he seemed to be gauging whether or not that was a good idea, and with a puzzled look at me (not unlike the one from History earlier, actually), he seemed to decide against it. Maybe it was the scowl on my face. I would have stayed away from me too; I was actually quite thoroughly irritated about my permanent black mood today- I'm usually a pretty happy, chill kind of person. Under normal circumstances, that is.

Bella gave me a funny look, but stopped waving thankfully. I started walking around the corner of the building into the courtyard, hoping she would follow; plans to sit on the bench right outside the door had to be nixed now that Jasper was sitting out there. I had no desire to be stared at all through lunch. Plus, I really needed to talk to her about him, and it didn't matter that he was a football field away playing a guitar. For all I knew, he could read lips. And I didn't want him in on our convo in any way, shape or form.

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**Reviews may or may not inspire Jasper to write some songs. Just sayin.**


	4. Expect the Unexpected

**All the usual stuff applies... They belong to SM- I'm just borrowing them in order to relive High School, because I'm apparently a masochist. This chapter is a bit heavy on the A/J...what did you expect? Its an A/J fic :D **

**Hopefully Ch 5 wont take as long. I will love you forever if you leave reviews : )  
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**Bella, lunch, 11:44 AM**

Well what in the Sweet Baby Jesus had gotten into Ali today, I wondered as she stomped away from the cafeteria loudly and dragged me down the hall. I mean, I know Jessica and her friends are jerks, but really. And why was she being so mean to Edward? I considered opening my mouth to ask; probably not the wisest course of action right now, but I pressed on anyway. The trick with Ali is not to seem like you're scared of her, even if you're terrified. There is something totally intimidating about her occasionally, and she doesn't even know she's throwing that vibe.

After she led me out the front door of the school, I couldn't contain it any longer. "Ali, where are we going?" I stopped in my tracks for emphasis.

"Oh c'mon, Bella. You seriously can't have wanted to sit with Stanley and the sharks," she said in a disbelieving tone. She had me there.

"Well, no," I replied. "You should have heard them before you got there. They only wanted to sit there because they figured Jasper and Edward would." Picking on me was probably just an added bonus. It _almost _offended me that Jessica was so mean to me; what had I ever done to her anyway?

"Yeah, I kind of worked that one out on my own," Ali said. "I don't need them making my life any harder today, that's all."

The distraction in her voice was apparent, and now I was burning with curiosity. Had something happened between the last time I had seen her and now? My question died an instant death when I saw a glint in the distance. Ali turned sharply, and I followed her gaze. A shock of blond hair immediately became recognizable as Jasper, sitting on a car with a guitar in hand. This guy was just all around kick-ass, I decided instantaneously.

"Oh, look Ali! It's Jasper!" I said, as I waved to him. I was remembering my earlier feeling of pride and accomplishment over my full-length conversation with him that I had never been able to tell her about. I turned to fill her in, and stopped short at the scowl on her face.

"Bella. Stop. Now," she ground out. I noticed Jasper waving back to me peripherally, but the look on Ali's face had me alarmed. When she took off toward the Quad without another word, I knew something had _definitely_ happened in one of the last two periods.

**Ali, lunch, 11:47 AM**

As soon as we got out of sight, I made my way to one of the benches in the quad and sat down heavily, tossing my bag down next to me. I dropped my head in my hands, and let out what I'm sure was an audible groan. This was officially the longest day ever, and I seemed to be developing a splitting headache, which was seriously odd for me.

Bella rounded on me almost instantly. "Ali! What the hell is wrong with you today?!"

Tilting my head up a fraction and uncovering one of my eyes, I gave her an evil look and said, "Please tell me you're kidding, Bella." Ok, maybe I overdid it on the frostiness a little.

She looked genuinely perplexed and for the life of me I could not figure out how we had switched roles so completely. Four hours ago, she had been shaking in her boots with apprehension, and I had been tag teamed, like it or not, to save the day. Now she seemed like this morning had never happened, and I was the one freaking out hardcore. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to fully appreciate the irony of the situation at the present moment.

"I don't get it though Ali… did something happen?" Bella asked, still looking confused.

"Uh, yeah, Bella. Newsflash. New boys are making my life hell. And we haven't even gotten to gym yet." She scowled at me; she really hated me when I turned patronizing. In my defense, I really couldn't help the condescension from leaking into my tone.

"Oh, c'mon, Ali," Bella said. "Its really not as bad as I thought it would be…I mean, I can't really say for Edward, but Jasper at least is actually really nice. I don't feel nervous around him at all, its so amazing!" "Jasper…" I echoed incredulously. This boy was turning out be like Ebola. "That's fabulous Bella. Like I need Jasper thrown in my face anymore today," I hissed.

With a furrow between her brows, she opened her mouth to speak but was interrupted by a throat-clearing sound coming from behind me. Unable to believe the events unfolding, I closed my eyes and prayed to any gods listening to just cut me a break. When I opened them again, I knew I wouldn't be getting any help from that quarter.

Jasper stood there, ten feet away, blond hair shining in the sun, with his guitar slung over his shoulder and resting on his back Desperado-style…only Antonio Banderas had never caused my mouth to go that dry.

**Jasper, lunch, 11:53 AM**

I really couldn't say what drove me to pick up my guitar and follow after the ladies; surely they wouldn't appreciate me barging in on them. But Alice had seemed even more upset when she saw me than when she first exited the building, and I spontaneously promised myself I was going to find out why, even if it was because she hated me for some reason. Feeling kind of dumb carrying the guitar around and wishing I'd taken the time to leave it in the car, I hooked the strap on my shoulder and stuffed my hands in my jeans pockets before I turned the corner myself. As I got closer, I could see Bella addressing Alice, who was obviously irritated. When I heard her mutter angrily, "That's fabulous Bella- like I need Jasper thrown in my face anymore today," my heart stuttered a little, both at hearing my name on her lips and how negative the connotation was. Clearly, as I had feared, she wasn't a fan of mine. I didn't let it get me down for too long though; the best things in life never come easy. So I put on my best game face and butted smoothly into their conversation. I may not be a perfect gentleman, but I don't eavesdrop. Especially when there's potential to hear not so nice things about myself.

"You ladies wouldn't be talking 'bout me when I'm not here to defend myself, would you?" I asked lightly with a slight drawl and a no-holds-barred grin as I gestured to myself. "Surely ya'll will break my heart."

"Oh, Jasper!" Bella laughed. "We're not saying anything bad, I promise." She gestured to Alice, frozen on the bench. "Ali's just been having a bad day, that's all."

She surely was, and anyone who got a look at the serious sulk in that otherwise perfect countenance would be able to see that. It pained me to see the expression on her face; even more to think that I may have inadvertently caused it. With genuine regret, I said, "I'm terribly sorry to hear that, Miss Alice." _If only I knew what the problem was, then I would fix it. _The furrow in her brow didn't waver; sensing that it might serve me better to leave well enough alone for the moment, I turned my attention back to Bella.

**Ali, lunch, 11:55 AM**

He wasted no time schmoozing Bella with that Southern charm at the first opportunity. It disgusted me because it a) actually appealed to me despite my best attempts at resisting it, which I hated admitting, and b) because it was directed at her. _Wonderful_. I was turning into one of those horrible people who was so unhappy about not getting what I wanted that I didn't want anyone else to either.

I heard Bella say, "Ali's just been having a bad day, that's all." _Understatement of the year._

Jasper turned his gaze directly on me, smile still in place, although he seemed to become more sober somehow.

"I'm terribly sorry to hear that, Miss Alice," he said softly, not taking his eyes from my face. I felt like he sincerely meant that, which seemed utterly ridiculous; he didn't know me, he didn't know anything about me. Why should he care?

Turning his attention back to Bella, he asked her lightly, "And how's Miss Bella doing on this fine day?" Bella rewarded him with a big grin and said, "Oh, my day is going pretty well actually. Well, except for that little scene in the lunchroom- oh, that's right, you missed it. You were out here, I guess."

I sat on the bench and said not a word, watching their exchange. Bella had turned into Little Miss Chatterbox and didn't seem to notice my silence, but I don't think I'm making it up when I say that I think Jasper did. He didn't try to address me directly, but gave me more than one glance during the course of their conversation that could only be labeled 'concerned'. He seemed to be truly interested in the things Bella was telling him, and at the same time seemed more than just curious as to why I was being so somber, which made me wonder if I ought to reconsider my initial judgment of him. Maybe he really was just a genuinely nice guy, and I was so unused to it, it just came off as smooth-talking.

My thoughts had taken me far away; I came back to find Bella snapping her fingers in my face for the second time today, and Jasper watching us with a half-amused expression on his face.

"Wake up Ali! Jasper's gonna play for us," she said in an excited voice. I must have made some kind of face, because he followed that up quickly with, "If you'd like me to." He took the guitar off his back and held it out slightly, as if asking permission.

_Oh god. _"Whatever, sure," I tried to sound natural. You know, not like a guy offering to play me a song turned me on ridiculously. _I hope you're trained in estrogen-spill cleanup procedure._

He walked over to one of the other benches, seated himself so he was sitting high up on the back with his feet on the sitting surface and began strumming softly, a tune I didn't recognize. He hadn't gotten very far when Esme and Rosalie Hale, followed by three or four of Rosalie's friends, came walking up the sidewalk that led to the café across the street where they often went for lunch. Shit, the period must be almost over. Esme took a look at our little assemblage and arched her eyebrow at me superciliously. Rosalie and the rest of her glamorous friends didn't even seem to notice we were there, although they all certainly took in an eyeful of Jasper sitting on the bench with his guitar. They slowed down as they reached us; clearly it was too much to hope they would just continue onward. I realized with clarity at that moment that I was the link between all of us, since Esme was really more my friend than Bella's. Which was going to require me speaking. _Damn_. She beat me to it.

"Ali! Pretty _hot_ out here today, isn't it?" she asked me with a knowing look for me and a cheeky look in Jasper's direction. Which he totally picked up on. _Oh fuck_.

"Uhh, yeah. Hi Esme," I said, silently pleading with her not to bring her drama here. She looked expectantly at me, and then Jasper. She was looking for an intro.

"Oh, right. Jasper," I said, not looking at him even as I addressed him for fear of stuttering, "this is, ah, Esme."

Jasper stood up, guitar in hand, and took Esme's hand with a smile. "From homeroom. I do recollect seeing you talking to Miss Bella and Miss Ali this morning."

Esme lit up like a Christmas tree at the polite Southern charm threatening to drown us all. Before she could even think about sinking her claws in though, he smoothly looked past her at Rosalie and asked, "And who might these lovely ladies be?"

Irrationally, my heart dropped into the pit of my stomach, even as I found myself amused by the ease with which he had brushed off Esme's obvious plays. If I paled in comparison to Esme, Rosalie and her Senior friends positively bleached me out. Why did I care? I wasn't trying to impress him. And he had a right to introduce himself to whoever he liked. Still, I thought dejectedly as I watched him chat up Esme, Rosalie and their friends, conflicting emotions and aside, it had been kinda nice to feel like maybe Edward was right and there was something attractive about me. Something that a guy like Jasper Whitlock would notice and appreciate. _Holy shit, was I manic today or what?_

From inside the school, the bell sounded. Lunch was over. I noticed that Jasper had taken his seat back on the bench and started strumming again at some point; he seemed unperturbed that the period was over and we had four minutes to make it to our next class. Simultaneously, I noticed that Esme had slipped her arm through Bella's and was walking away with her, a wary look on Bella's face and a mischievous one on Esme's. Rosalie and her friends had already wandered off, leaving me standing there with Jasper. Alone.

His fingers were busy on the frets, but in spite of the fact that he was watching me instead of the guitar, he didn't seem to miss a note of whatever it was he was idly playing. The awkwardness swooped in. I felt stupid just walking away, and he really seemed to be inviting me to make the first move, but I didn't know what to do; no other boy in this school made me feel this way, or had ever, for that matter. I picked the coward's way out.

"Ummm…we'd better go. We're gonna be late," I mumbled as I hastily turned and began to walk away. The strumming didn't stop. And from behind me, in a seemingly unconcerned, yet curious manner, "You don't like me much, do you, Miss Alice?"

That stopped me in my tracks. I whirled back in his direction and met his eyes. _What had Edward told him? _Immediately, I became a bit incensed.

"What do you mean? Have you been talking to Edward?" I accused with a glare. "What's he been telling you?"

I pretty much started interrogating him before I considered the wisdom of such a move. His fingers stilled on the strings and his eyes took on a decidedly more interested gleam. I completely forgot about 6th period.

"Edward…" Jasper mused as he nodded his head.

Standing up, he slung the guitar back over his shoulder. It caught the bottom of his shirt, making it ride up a little bit, giving me a tantalizing glimpse of bare torso and jeans slung dangerously low, a tiny sliver of his boxers peeking out. My fingers literally ached (and here I'd always thought that was just an expression) to explore that little spot of exposed skin. _Who the hell was I kidding? _My mouth was desperately wishing for an excuse to find its way there; forget my fingers.

He didn't seem to notice my distraction, or my suddenly flushed face, as he fixed his shirt and began walking towards me. I found myself holding my breath and taking tiny steps backwards the closer he got.

"Edward and I haven't spoken about you. Or Miss Bella. Scout's honor," he said as he advanced slowly. Oh my god, _the swagger_; I felt my knees going weak. "You just don't seem to…enjoy my company quite the same as you do Edward's. I really am very sorry if Edward or I have contributed to your bad day," he said with a frown, and a little frustration in his voice. "We truly didn't mean to cause any problems for you or Miss Bella."

I'm fairly sure I must have looked like a fish, with my mouth working up and down, trying to speak even though there were no words coming out. How do you respond to that?? _How about the truth_, my mind inserted. _Which truth…? _The devil's advocate responded. _The one where you need him across the country from you to keep your sanity, or the one where you want to be on top of him, like 5 minutes ago, doing things romance novels only *dream* of?_

Unable to believe my own train of thought, I forced myself to take a breath and say something…anything. It came out sounding a lot harsher than I would have liked it to, giving him god only knows that impression.

"It's fine. You and Edward. No problem. Just other stuff….on my mind. No problem. Really," I choked out, completely unbelievably in my own opinion.

I have no clue whether he bought it or not, but he seemed relieved nonetheless. Not giving him an opportunity to say any more, I bit out, "Gonna be late. Gotta go. Later."

Then I turned and practically bolted. The back of my neck prickled and flamed until I rounded the corner. And even then some.

**Jasper, between fifth and sixth period, 12:14 PM**

I remained still where I stood, watching Alice pensively as she turned and hurried away from me at what had to be a record speed, until well after she had rounded the corner of the building. The bell signaling sixth period rang; the only thought running through my head had nothing to do with Trigonometry, the class I was now late for, but rather the fact that for the first and only time in my life, I actually _wanted _to get to know the girl better, and _she_ was running away from _me_. With too much on my mind to worry about my math class, I sat back down on the bench and strummed as I thought about Alice and the situation at hand. She seemed to take umbrage at me for some reason, yet I could see, feel even, the potent attraction between us. I thought about how I could turn said situation to my advantage and compel her to _want _to get to know me better. I had the feeling that I had my work cut out for me.

**Ali, sixth period, 12:16 PM **

When I got to the locker room, I was saved the delight of having to deal with Jessica because I was so late that almost everyone had changed and gone out to the gym already. Bella was still in the locker room, dawdling around and obviously waiting for me.

"Ali! What happened? Why are you so late? I tried to tell Esme…" I tuned her out as she prattled and concentrated on changing as fast as I could.

"…leave you alone with Jasper."

"What?" I asked, slightly ashamed that it was pretty easy to ignore Bella until she said the magic J-word.

"I said, I don't know why she wanted to leave you alone with Jasper," Bella said sulkily. I wondered if she was being serious; I'd thought Esme's tactics were pretty obvious, and I rather thought Jasper might agree with me.

Putting her off again, I said in exasperation, "Look, can we talk about it later? Howell's gonna mark us late if we don't get out there."

"Alright, fine. But you better have some goods for me. I still haven't even heard about whatever was going on this morning!" she exclaimed.

I waved my hand dismissively and hurried to the door, Bella rushing in my wake. As I laid my hand on the doorknob to pull it open, the door flew at me from the outside. I stopped short and Bella trampled on my ankles.

"Hey!" I cried indignantly. "Can't you watch…Oh. Stanley," I sneered. "Should have known.

Jessica Stanley stood in the doorway blocking any hope of an entrance or exit, arms crossed and leveling a nasty look at me.

"Bella," she said snidely and looking right past me. "And where did _you _run off to today? We missed talking abo…I mean, to you at lunch."

"Oh, ha, ha, ha," I responded snarkily. "For your information, we were otherwise occupied."

I could see Bella giving her a look of pure loathing from the corner of my eye.

"Oh well, too bad you couldn't join us today. Don't feel too bad though; I don't even think Edward noticed you weren't there," she stated smugly, obviously trying to get a rise out of us by making it sound like she had snagged Edward's company for lunch, which I very seriously doubted anyway.

"Oh, don't worry. We're not losing sleep over it," I responded haughtily. Then I shoved my way past her with Bella in tow and as I walked away, I said to Bella loudly enough for Jessica to hear, "What was the name of that song Jasper was playing for us on his guitar in the quad last period anyway?" It was a low blow, and I felt a slight bit guilty for using him to my advantage when I'd been treating him kinda crappy all day, but it got the point across.

Satisfied when I heard her indignant gasp, I made my way out to the gym feeling much better than I had all day. At least I had been telling the truth. Kind of.

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Gym ended up going surprisingly smoothly after that minor glitch, which worried me a little bit, to be honest. Aside from the typical death looks I was getting from the skank trinity, nothing really happened. I did notice that Edward had gym with us that period, which I thought was unfortunate because Bella already sucked at gym and didn't need the extra distraction. And the way he was watching her, she was bound to notice sometime. But it apparently wasn't meant to be today, thank the gods. We left the gym and I was still watching for the knife I was sure was being aimed at my back from somewhere.

As we made our way into the hallway, we bumped into Edward, literally. Or at least, Bella did. She was always good for that kind of thing. And maybe this time it helped rather than hindered. Immediately Edward reached out to brace her from overbalancing onto her ass and said quickly, "Oh man, I'm really sorry." It was the most…human… I'd seen him all day long. And he actually voluntarily had something to do with Bella, which I was 100% sure she was not actually thankful for, if her reaction was any indicator.

After she pulled herself to and realized Edward was touching her, she gave him a frightened glance, pulled away and booked in the opposite direction down the hall, without even acknowledging either one of us. _Smooth, Bella_.

"Okay, see ya later…" I muttered to myself as I sardonically waved to a completely unobservant Bella practically racing down the hall. Edward was standing next to me, speechlessly watching her retreating form. After she had turned the corner, he turned to look at me with a completely bewildered look on his face.

"Don't ask," I said, waving my hand in the air. "Bella's…not so good with……people."

He opened his mouth as if to say something, then apparently thinking better of it, he turned his head back in the direction we had last seen Bella fleeing, and shook his head.

"Listen," I addressed him since I had him standing there anyway. "What did you tell Jasper after we talked earlier?" I harbor the suspicion that the question may have sounded somewhat accusative.

Apparently thrown off by the random topic, he gave me a wary glance and said, "I don't know what you mean. I've hardly talked to him all day. The only time I even saw him was in English."

A little annoyed, I said, "You must have said something though, right? Why did he ask me if I didn't like him? Unless you said something to him."

His interest piqued, he completely ignored my very reasonable question and said, "When did you talk to J?" He raised his eyebrows at me suggestively. I rolled my eyes and gave him a deadpan look. "Must have been during lunch…after you deserted me with the bimbo brigade," he continued with a disgusted grimace. "Thanks a lot for that. It wasn't exactly easy to extract myself from that, you know," he said with a frown.

"Hah!" I cried triumphantly. "I knew that bitch wasn't telling the truth!"

At his alarmed look, I said, "Stanley, I mean." He still looked lost. "Never mind," I said impatiently. "The point is, if you got rid of them, you obviously didn't sit with them at lunch, right?"

"Uh, no. After you booked, I made some excuses and tried to leave right away. The one with the bad 80's hair followed me halfway to the library. I had to duck into the bathroom to lose her!"

"The library?" I asked. "You may be the only person I've ever met beside Bella who would go hang out in the library during lunch." He looked at me evenly for a quiet moment before saying, "Well, what was my alternative? Where did you two end up? Cuz you sure weren't in the library."

Something about his tone alerted me to the fact that he may have gone to the library deliberately looking for us. Which means he was obviously paying attention to something during our "tour" this morning.

"Oh. Right. You're more observant than I originally gave you credit for, you know that?"

He threw me another bewildered glance. I didn't let it go any farther though. "We ended up out in the quad. We saw Jasper playing his guitar." I didn't go into any further detail.

He arched an eyebrow in my direction, the unspoken question implicit in his expression. I wasn't in any mood to go into it though. Just then the bell for 7th period rang. Luckily, I just had band, which unquestionably worked in my favor in this instance. The band room was right across the hall from the gym, and the teacher was never there on time anyway.

"Ooops," I said. "Gotta go." I turned to walk away, and realized that he was following me.

He caught my gaze and with a satisfied smile said, "What? I've got band too….J's probably already there and waiting for me actually." With that and a smug kind of smile, he sauntered off. I heaved out a deep sigh, resigned to my frustrated fate now (_how many periods left in the day? Home had never looked so good…_)_. _As I turned and entered the classroom, I realized that Edward never had answered my question. Bastard.

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**Reviews put Edward in a good mood. Don't let him down.**


	5. Lessons in Love and Life

**Jasper, 7th period, 12:59 PM**

I was already sitting on a stool back in the percussion section, nodding every now and again at the boy who'd been sitting in front of Alice during American History as he made conversation with himself, when I saw Edward come into the room. There was a sharp dip in the region of my stomach when I saw Alice come in hot on his heels. He half-turned and said something to her with a smirk, causing her to look in my direction, which was quickly accompanied by a scowl of magnificent proportions from the lady herself. She said something terse back to him, and I could tell from her narrowed eyes that it was likely a little frostier in the region of the door.

I was irrationally torn between a minor pang of jealousy that Edward was apparently successful in dragging conversation out of her and annoyance, because he sure didn't seem to be helping my cause any. I was really gonna have to find out what he'd been saying to her- the perpetual daggers she shot me might happen to be more endearing than alarming (what can I say, I like a challenge), but I worried that the fact that I was seeing them all the time could become a problem. They parted ways; Edward headed in my direction, Alice over to the other side of the room towards a group of kids whispering amongst themselves and eyeballing me. Well, eyeballing us, now that Edward was joining me.

I must have been watching pretty intently, because American History kid apparently got bored listening to himself and leaned in my direction, although he kept his gaze trained on Alice crossing the room. "Heard you guys had to hang out with her and her wackjob friend second period."

The way he said it made it seem like he was more interested in fishing for gossip than making a statement. I broke my gaze reluctantly and gave him a nonplussed look, but didn't respond. I found his assessment of Bella to be exceedingly rude, certainly wrong, and I suspected, based on his tone, his opinion of Alice was no better. I've been told before that my ability to convey a nonverbal message is unmatched; he held his hands out and said, "Hey- don't get me wrong. Chick is hot- her friend's not bad either. But she is weeeeeeeird. Capital W."

Before I could respond to that, Edward made it over to us and plunked his ass down on an empty stool. He had a shit-eating grin on his face that astonished me honestly; I think we had both been pretty resigned to hating life here and expecting school to be horrible, him even more so than me. Ironically he, at least, seemed to be thoroughly enjoying his first day, I noted as I saw Alice throw him a dirty look to which he responded with a wink and a chuckle. _I will not get jealous. I will not get jealous. _

"J, that girl is a riot. She is easily my favorite person here so far," he said with a shake of his head.

Before I could respond to _that_, American History kid leaned over in front of me and extended his hand in Edward's direction.

"Hey, you must be Edward. I'm Tyler," he said, and then started prattling again, as if I wasn't even there. _Way to anticipate your introduction buddy_, I thought irritably, Edward's words still ringing in my ears. Not that I had known his name to introduce him.

I turned and looked at Edward, trying to impart that we seriously needed to have a conversation. The look he returned to in no way acknowledged my request, but implored me to shut Tyler Talks-too-much up. I totally agreed with him on that front, but I wasn't feeling overly charitable at the moment with him, so I just sat back and watched the ah…scenery, until the teacher came in. And even then some.

**Ali, 7th period, 1:01 PM**

Band went by a lot quicker than what I had expected, based on the previous events of the day; it turned out to be a glorified Study Hall. Mr. Fischer didn't have sheet music for us, and some of the new kids needed to get their hands on instruments anyway…the band consists of everyone in the school who plays anything, in grades 7-12, because Forks is so small.

I tried to keep to myself more or less, hanging around near my fellow sax players and talking about summer vacation when the topic came up. Most of them wanted to discuss Jasper and Edward, and though no one was brave enough yet to ask me about them (everyone in school knew about the "tour" by now), a couple of people kept giving me weird looks.

Patience has never been a virtue I possess in spades. Or even at all. Truth be told, I was kind of sick of being goggled at today. I could only imagine how Edward or Jasper felt, honestly. After yet another not-so-covert glance from a younger dark-haired girl that I didn't know very well, I kind of lost it.

"Can I help you with something, Angela?" I snapped.

She jumped a bit, along with the four or five people sitting near us. Flushing a little for being caught staring, she looked away quickly. I took pity on her when I saw her expression and apologized.

"Look, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be rude. But people have been staring at me all day and it's getting a bit old. Was there something you wanted to ask me?" I asked again, trying with all the might I possessed to be pleasant.

An indecisive look flitted across her face as if she really did have something to ask. Or say. I waited, expectantly.

Finally, she said in a low whisper (and a bit incredulously in my opinion), "Did you really have to give them a tour of the school this morning?" with a nod of her head in their direction.

Everyone in our small group stopped talking and turned my way, waiting on the answer. A couple of them turned to look at Edward and Jasper. They all wore similar expressions of doubt. And I agreed with them 100%.

"I know, right?!" I said a bit huffily. "Since when has anyone ever gotten a tour of grand old Forks High? Why would you need one, more to the point?"

They all nodded and laughed, tension relieved. A couple scoffed. Feeling a bit empowered, I got up on my soapbox (which I had really been dying to do all day) and continued on. "I seriously couldn't believe Banner when he said it. And what's worse, he asked Bella. Bella, of all people!" I rolled my eyes; a couple of them let out surprised laughs. Mike Newton, who was in our grade, said, "C'mon. Not Bella."

"Yeah, Bella. So, of course, that's how I got suckered into that one."

"What are they like?" Devon Johnston asked.

"Like?" I repeated. "I don't know, they're…just new guys. They're nice enough." I figured that was probably about the extent of my charity towards them today, no matter how bad I felt over how much they got stared at.

"They're both really cute," Lindsay Evans chimed in, and then immediately turned red for voicing such a thought. She's a 9th grader.

Ben Sussman stuck his head in the conversation and said with a nod towards Edward, "I heard that the taller one is Dr. Cullen's _son_."

I frowned. "His name is Edward." _Dr. Cullen's son?_ As in Dr. Carlisle Cullen? Dr. Cullen didn't even look old enough to have a son.

"And," Ben continued, "I heard that the blond one spent some time in jail. _After_ getting kicked out of like, 3 military schools." He emphasized this with a nod, and everyone turned to me for confirmation.

I gave them all a strange look and said, "I don't know where you heard any of that, but I don't think it's true. Or if it is, it's not information that's been shared with me." Personally, I thought it more likely that the Forks 'Telephone' was alive and well. Frowning again, I stole a look toward the new boys. Jasper caught me looking, causing me to let out a small gasp and turn quickly back to my group. Or had I caught _him_ looking? Edward's words earlier that morning were clearly making me paranoid.

My band mates had gladly begun speculating on these rumors with wild abandon, and for about two minutes, I was heartily glad to have never been new in Forks.

"Guys, really," I said interrupting them. "I don't think you should be spreading rumors like that about people you don't know. Its kinda rude. I'm sure you're mistaken." Especially about Jasper. He really was teeth-grindingly polite; I couldn't imagine him getting kicked out of _one_ school, let alone spending time in the slammer. And I really had no idea how Edward could be Dr. Cullen's kid; unless he had been about 14 when Edward was born. That seemed unlikely. Highly unlikely.

My train of thought was completely de-railed as the bell rang, sending us all into a frenzied exit. I tried to hang back a little so I wouldn't end up awkwardly meeting up with Jasper and Edward at the bottleneck that was the door.

When I finally got out, I thought there was virtually no way they could be behind me and sneak up on me somehow. I did run into Coach Carter leaving the boys locker room, however. _Thank you gods for not turning me into a complete liar earlier today. _

"Ali! How was your summer?" he asked enthusiastically.

"Not bad," I replied, just as enthusiastically.

"Have you been practicing up? Tryouts are next week, you know," he said.

"Oh, are they?" I asked. "I didn't notice the bulletin." _Because Jessica Stanley had been waving her ugly mug in my face, probably. _"You know I'll be there!"

"Good, good," he said with a familiar slap to my shoulder. 'We'll see you then!" And with that he headed off down the hallway in the opposite direction.

I continued on, perked up now at the prospect of tennis starting up so soon. I'm pretty much a staple on the team, especially since I'm a Junior, but I have to go through the tryouts just so that it's fair. I was thinking that it might not be a bad idea to pull out my racket and practice some serves, because I really hadn't practiced all that much over the summer, instead opting to laze around when I wasn't working or hanging with Bella.

I must have been really lost in my thoughts, because when Jasper came up behind me and said, "Tryouts for what, Miss Alice?", I literally jumped three feet off the ground. It was the equivalent of getting the wind knocked out of me essentially, and I brought my hand to my heart as I tried in vain to draw breath. _How the hell had he gotten behind me?_

Too panicked to be angry just yet, I exclaimed between lungful of air, "Oh my god, you just scared the shit out of me! Don't be sneaking up on a girl like that!" The amused expression on his face got the annoyance flowing. I think I may have glowered at him.

"I'm sorry; didn't realize you were woolgathering," he offered with a killer smile. Gah, he had to stop doing that. Seriously. My heart didn't stand a chance between him attacking me from behind and his I-can-melt-your-panties smiles. Good thing Edward's dad was a doctor. Or, Edward's something anyway; I still wasn't quite sure about the whole 'Dad' thing.

"So, what are we trying out for then, Miss Alice?" Jasper repeated in his Southern drawl.

"Tennis," I responded automatically, trying to look around him and getting suspicious when I didn't see Edward anywhere.

"Where's Edward?" I asked abruptly, thinking that this must have been planned. It was official. Edward Cullen was trying to torture me to death.

"Edward," Jasper replied, his expression cooling as some of the amusement left his face, "went to his next class." My confused demeanor must have been obvious, because after a moment he continued with, "I had to stay after and talk to Mr. Fischer. And then I was lucky enough to run into yourself." Another smile.

Suspicious again. He was mocking me. I knew it. I scrunched up my eyes, I think, and tried to decide how best to respond to that. Didn't have much of a chance though; between Jasper and Coach Carter we had made it to the main hall of the school, where people were filing last minute into their 8th period classes.

Jasper look toward the door to the French room, and said, "Until we meet again, Miss Alice," he said softly and turned away. I gave his retreating back a consternated look; for some reason, I could very clearly imagine him touching the brim of and tipping a hat as he said that. Apparently his name wasn't the only thing that seemed old-fashioned about him.

Shaking my head to clear the cobwebs a little, I looked up and noticed that my classroom was right next door, which made sense because I had Latin, and all the language labs are in the same general area. I made my way into the room and noticed Edward already sitting there, eyes on his feet and chewing on a pen. He lifted his gaze a bit when I walked in and gave me a sly smile. I realized that from where he was sitting, he would have had a perfect vantage point for viewing the tail end of my conversation with Jasper. I narrowed my eyes at him and made a show of turning my head in the opposite direction, toward the front of the room. It proved to be a lot easier to ignore him, since my neck didn't feel like it was on fire, but I swear I could almost _hear_ him smiling behind me. I made it a point to keep my eyes on the board and left the room without looking back when the bell rang.

**---------------------**

Miracle of miracles, I didn't run into Jasper on exiting the class and was able to make it safely through 9th and 10th periods without seeing him or Edward. It was almost hard to believe the day was over. I knew that Bella had a Study Hall last period, so I made my way to the library first, thinking to check there for her first. I wasn't disappointed; she was there, re-shelving books furiously and seemed not to have noticed that the final bell for the day had rung, or even that I was approaching. She was obviously agitated about something, but my first priority was to relocate to a guaranteed Jasper-free zone, like maybe one of our bedrooms. Then I could beat it out of her.

"Bella, you coming or what? School's over." I couldn't keep myself from smiling at the moment, and was trying to forget that it was basically only one day down in the grand scheme of about….oh, two hundred and ninety-seven.

She jumped at the sound of my voice and dropped a book she was holding. I made a quizzical gesture with my hands and gave her a hard look.

"You ok, Bells?" I inquired.

She looked past me, as if to make sure no one was behind me, before mumbling, "Yeah, fine. Let me just grab my bag and we can get out of here." She dropped the book she had just picked up on the re-shelving cart and walked away towards the front desk. She was acting kind of weird, so I just took that as my hint and followed.

She remained silent all the way down the hall and out the front door, until we got to the parking lot. We saw Jasper parked back on the hood of his car with the guitar out again, and Edward leaning against the side of it, holding court over what looked like half the female population of the school, but neither one looking like they cared very much.

I curiously watched Bella take a good look at the goings-on, and drop her gaze quickly to the sidewalk, cheeks red. She picked up the pace without looking back. Trying to keep up with her, but figure out what was going on too, I looked back over at the parking lot. Edward was watching Bella walk away with a pensive expression on his face and completely ignoring his fan club; Jasper was strumming idly and didn't appear to have noticed any of them to begin with. Our eyes met, and for what I hoped was the last time that day, my breath hitched in my throat. There was no way he couldn't tell how he affected me. And this was exactly what I didn't need anymore. One lesson like this in love ought to be enough for anyone, and no way was I setting myself up for this fall. _Again_, I amended morosely as I tore my eyes from his perfect face. I turned my back on it all and quickened my own pace to catch up with her.

**Jasper, after school, 3:16 PM**

I headed out towards my car after the final bell rang, not really sure where Edward was, but hoping he had just assumed to meet me there. I really wanted to go home and be away from people, and just think. But that was not in my fate today. I was stopped in the halls for a parting slap on the back by several classmates who I'd been introduced to, and even more of the teachers I'd seen throughout the day. They all wanted to find out how my first day had gone. I was unfailingly polite to everyone, even American History kid, whose name I still couldn't remember to save my life.

When I got out to the car, Edward was leaning against it wearing a harassed expression, which probably had to do with the crowd of people gathered around it, and him. He seemed like he was trying to be nice, but he was a little less affable than me, generally speaking, and so I could tell that he was not enjoying it. _Well good, _I thought, still a bit irked with him for reasons I couldn't even name.

I went through the whole damn routine again, which was ridiculous considering some of these people I had just dealt with in the hallway, including American History kid. They all loved my car, loved the leather, loved my jeans, loved Edward's sunglasses. Basically just loved the shit out of both of us in general. As I popped the trunk to put my bag back there, and held out my hand to take Edward's, one of the girls saw my guitar, and started laying it on thick until I gave in and pulled it out.

I was just sitting up on the hood strumming and trying to block out the crowd that wouldn't seem to disperse when I noticed Bella and Alice come out of the school doors. It was kind of like déjà vu, except this time Bella didn't stop to wave. She looked away quickly and practically ran off, where Alice actually met my glance this time, although her expression wasn't very favorable. Although, at least it wasn't a scowl this time. Still, frowns aren't exactly reassuring. Or encouraging. She looked away too as if it hurt to have to look at me, and did a little jog to catch up with Bella.

After they were out of sight, Edward and I exchanged glances of equal puzzlement and frustration. Suddenly, I was really in no mood to sit here anymore. I stood up and hopped down and put the guitar back in its case in the trunk. Edward took my cue and started making excuses for us as he got in the car. I made my goodbyes short and sweet; I mean honestly, I hardly knew any of these people. The only people I currently wanted to get to know any better had taken off in the opposite direction, and besides, we would see them all tomorrow anyway. The way these people were hovering was a little weird- we were from Texas, not Jupiter.

We hadn't really had much of an opportunity to talk a lot today and I was dying to know, but I pulled out of the lot and waited until we were down the road a little way before saying amiably to him, "So Edward. What in the hell have you been telling Alice about me?"

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	6. Little Boys and Puppy Dog's Tails

**Last chapter that needed to be redone. All new from here on out. Please leave a little love/hate note for me.**

**No copyright infringement intended. Dont own anything except the plot.**

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**Ali, after school, 3:21 PM**

We walked in complete silence to Bella's house, a fact which had me more than a bit worried- even though she was shy, she was usually never silent around _me_. And her abrupt change in mood had me frantically wondering what had happened between now and the last time I'd seen her, just after gym. Honestly, it was so not like her that it totally rerouted my train of thought away from Jasper for two whole minutes. Figuring she'd tell me when she was good and ready, I kept my own counsel until we got up to her room. After a few more minutes of awkward silence there, I decided there was nothing for it but to confront her. Hey, I'm not a saint.

"Bella, what's the deal?" I asked abruptly. "Your bipolar tendencies are crazy hard to follow today."

She scowled at me, but didn't respond. After another silent minute or two, I picked my bag back up and headed towards the door.

"Well, I'm not hanging around here to talk to myself. I can do that at home." I turned for the doorknob. _Pleasepleaseplease call my bluff. _I really needed to talk too, but she gets kind of stubborn sometimes. Looked like today wasn't going to be the exception to the rule though, thank the gods. Her eyes took on a panicked look and she darted to the door, blocking my exit.

"Nonononono, Ali! You can't go!" For good measure, I guess, she turned around and locked the door.

Secretly elated, but not wanting to give too much away, I sighed dramatically and said, "Alright then- spill!" Sometimes in order to be able to talk, you have to listen.

She looked at me helplessly. "I don't know where to start," she admitted in a half-whisper.

"Try the beginning," I advised. She ignored my obvious sarcasm, and with a pained expression that she held for a moment, as if contemplating, she finally spoke.

"Edward's really cute."

Real sigh. "Ok," I amended, "Not that far back. I caught that part this morning."

"Haha, Ali," she responded with a jab to my shoulder.

"Ok fine," I said, throwing my hands up. "Edward's cute. What's the problem?!"

How I made that sound nonchalant, I have no idea, because if Bella was having even half the 'problem' with Edward that I had with Jasper, I knew exactly what her deal was. Then again, she had no idea how often I'd caught him staring at her over the past eight hours either…

"Ok, I'm gonna start again, and _no interrupting _this time," she said with a dirty look.

I bit my tongue for her sake, even though I really wanted to point out that dirty looks didn't usually work for her. She never looked all that mean. Mostly, just cute. In the way of a three year old who'd lost his candy.

Taking a deep breath, she said, "Edward and I have History together."

That sounded so funny I couldn't help myself from arching an eyebrow in her direction suggestively. When she realized how it had come out, she blushed furiously and threw a stuffed animal at me.

"Shut up, Ali! That's not what I meant and you know it! I didn't mean _history_ history! American history!"

She was giving me a murderous look now, although I could tell the giggles were threatening. Oh well, better than complete silence. I'm not one of those people who generally likes silence, unless I'm doing something that require concentration. It bores me.

"_American_ History," she repeated, for my benefit. I waited a few beats before making a circular motion with my hand as if to say, "And…?"

She sobered up. Another deep breath. "He sat next to me." I must have given her the mother of all blank expressions, as she elaborated very emphatically, "He. Tried. To. Talk. To. Me."

Then she threw her own hands up in a gesture of pure frustration before bringing them back to cover her face in what I guess was complete mortification, while she simultaneously dove for the bed.

When it seemed like no more was forthcoming, I said, "So wait. You're pms'ing and shooting daggers out of your eyes because Edward tried to talk to you?" _Was I missing something?_

"Ali, you really don't understand. When he even looks at me, my throat gets all….closed up…and scratchy." She clawed at her throat as if the mere thought of it was giving her this reaction. And here I thought Esme had gotten all the drama queen genes.

_Beg to differ Bella. I know exactly what you mean._ Still, I was way more able to handle myself around a guy than I thought she was; she'd spent all of her life trying to get away from them. I knew that as an unmitigated truth.

"Ok, so you're saying you have an allergic reaction? To Edward." I inquired, purposely being smart-ass. That's just how I roll. Seems like making people laugh usually gets them to relax enough to deal with their issues.

"An allergic….a what?" she burst out laughing. Mission accomplished. "Well, I guess you could say that," she conceded. "But when you put it that way, all I can think of is Edward's head on the body of that bee from the commercial." Another snort of laughter.

I shuddered. I fucking hate that bee. It's in the same category of creepy as the goddam Burger King. Trying not to dwell on it, I said, "Well, what did he say anyway? Why were you so agitated just now?"

She got serious again. "Ohmigod, Ali. Its not what _he_ said. Its how _I_ reacted." She planted her face in her palm again. "Why can't I just be normal and be able to talk to a freaking guy? ARRRGH!"

Seriously intrigued now, I looked at her curiously. "What did you _do_?"

With a pained look, she began a recollection of events that happened just after Gym. "Ok, so remember that painfully embarrassing collision with him just after Gym?"

Oh, yeah. I had forgotten about it already. I got a little indignant at the memory.

"Yeah, I do- thanks a lot, by the way. Way to ditch and leave me stuck with him." I stuck out my lower lip and scrunched my eyes together.

"Oh, please, don't remind me!" she moaned and flopped back on her bed again.

"What's the big? Maybe it wasn't a smooth move, but it was fairly harmless. Trust me when I tell you _he's_ not losing sleep over it- he moved on to torturing me without a second thought." I scowled.

That grabbed her attention. "What do you mean, torturing you?"

"Nothing, nothing. I'll tell you when you're done." I waved my hands at her.

"Oh, right. Yeah, so anyway, I apparently didn't embarrass myself enough with that little debacle," she continued.

"He could just be a masochist," I pointed out helpfully.

"Oh, thanks for that overwhelming vote of confidence," she said sulkily.

"Look- are you gonna tell me or not?!" I cajoled. She had me near death with curiosity.

She looked at me suspiciously and finally said, "I don't know if I want to tell you after all. You'll just think I'm stupid."

"I will not!" I cried indignantly. "That's not fair. I tell _you _everything!" I was really working the pout now.

She snorted. "Hah! You mean you tell me an edited version of everything." She gave me a haughty, challenging look.

I made a little noise in the back of my throat.

"Bella- do we have to go over this again? That thing with Jacob was like a year ago! And you found out everything there was to know anyway!"

"But only," she spoke over the end of my sentence, "because Esme happened to be running her mouth at a convenient time for once! Admit it! You never would have told me!" She pointed at me for emphasis. "Even for as long as I've known you, I'm 100% certain there are things you don't…share."

Another scoff of outrage from me. Where was all of this coming from? I batted her hand away and said, "I would too have and I do so! What- so you want me to call you when I get my period or stub my toe?! My life is an open book- and if you think you're missing out on anything, you're just not looking at the right chapters. And," I continued, "don't think that you've distracted me from the topic at hand. I think you're just trying to make me forget what you were gonna tell me!"

Tit for tat, man.

"I am not!" she retaliated vehemently, a flush crawling up her neck and giving her away.

"You whore!" I yelled with a laugh, crowing my triumph. "You'd better tell me or…I won't ever do you nails or your hair again. And forget borrowing my clothes!"

I shoved her roughly but playfully onto the bed. She grabbed a pillow and lobbed it at my head; I ducked well enough to miss it in the face, but it still hit me squarely in the shoulder.

"Fine!" she shouted, getting into it. "I can do my own nails. And hair!"

I almost paused in my righteous indignation to laugh- Bella was sooooooooo not girly, it wasn't even funny. I wasn't actually sure if she knew the purpose of concealer.

"Alright fine, have it your way. I'll…uh…OH! I'll make Edward tell me tomorrow. _And_ I'll tell him that you like him," I threatened.

She sobered instantly. "You would not," she stated in a menacing voice. I folded my arms on my chest. "Watch me," I smirked.

She panicked. "No Ali, _please_ DO NOT do that! Please!" I stood there silently and let her sweat it a little; I had no intention of singling him out for any kind of a conversation, but she didn't need to know that. "Ali, seriously." And now, the puppy dog look.

I scoffed loudly, rolling my eyes and unfolding my arms.

"Tell me already!" I practically ordered.

She fell back with an audible sigh of relief, and we both started giggling.

"Alright, fine," she said as she sat up and put a pillow in her lap.

Just then, a cacophony of noise sounded on the staircase. It was like an entire herd of elephants, complete with tribal riders, were coming up the stairs. And it knew how to knock.

We didn't have time to do more than give each other a pained expression before we were assaulted with loud, repetitive banging and futile attempts to shove its way through an open door. _Thank the gods for door locks_.

The 'it' in question was Declan, Bella's 10-year old half-brother. He is like, the antithesis of Bella in every way. And he has a mad infatuation with me for some unknown reason. It was cute at first, when I thought it would go away. But its been over 5 years since the honeymoon phase has ended, and now he's repeating things he hears at school, so I end up getting called 'Baby' a lot. By a 10-year old. Its like he's trying to channel that kid from 3 ½ Men, but he's just really not as cute as that kid. Bella thinks its hysterical; I'm no longer so amused.

"Bella! Let me in!" The door knob rattled fiercely. Bella picked up a random shoe and hauled it at the door. "GO AWAY, Declan! Leave me alone!"

More banging and rattling. "Mom says I have to stay with you- she's going to the store and you need to bring me to soccer practice!"

Bella jumped up, outraged. "What?! No way!"

"Oh man," I groaned. "That sucks." _There goes our girl talk. _I didn't think I'd spoken that loudly, but Declan picked up my voice. I swear that kid is a bat. The banging resumed, more frantic than ever.

"Is that Ali? LET. ME. IN!!" he yelled through the door.

Bella stalked over to the door and yanked it open so fast that he almost fell into her room simply because he was leaning on the door.

"Get lost! You're driving me nuts! Don't you have a Barney video to watch or something?" she sneered.

Just then, another, lighter set of footprints sounded at the bottom of the stairs. Bella's step-mom, Victoria. Declan smirked; Bella peered out the doorway. When she moved, he angled himself in the doorway so he could see me and mouthed, "Hey baby," with an exaggerated head gesture.

_Oh God. Not today._

Deciding that whatever Bella had to tell me wasn't worth being ogled by a 10-year old pimp, I grabbed my backpack. She was arguing with her step-mother (and losing anyway, because apparently Mrs. Swan had to not only stop at the store, but drive up to Seattle and pick up her brother James from the airport, who was apparently taking a semester off from college), so I just stuck my head in and said quickly, "Its ok, Bells. I gotta get home anyway. Call me later?" I emphasized the 'later'; I was still dying to know.

Bella had a sullen look on her face and her arms crossed- she looked pissed. And now she was giving Declan dirty looks, like it was his fault that their mom was leaving. With one last leer from Declan, I escaped that madhouse and made my way home.

**Edward, after school, 3:27 PM**

"Wait a min…what have I been telling Alice _what_?" I asked Jasper incredulously, as I turned my head to look at him. Out of all the things he could have opened our first real conversation today with, this was not top on my list of expected subjects. Alice, yes. Me getting blamed for something concerning Alice, no.

He didn't say anything right away, which didn't really faze me, cuz that's just J's way. He definitely prefers to let you sweat it and eventually guilt or self-conscious yourself into a confession. He'd make an awesome cop. Or lawyer. Or poker king; I really ought to take him to Vegas, come to think of it.

"Look, J, I don't have any idea what you're talking about," which wasn't entirely on the level, but really, I didn't think I'd said anything that would get me in trouble. And definitely not so soon.

"Edward, that is total bullshit," he said pleasantly, not taking his eyes from the road. Oh man, pleasant is not a good sign. "You're the only person I've seen talking to her today, aside from Bella, and for some reason, she gives me murder-death-kill looks whenever I'm close enough to appreciate them." He thought about it for a minute. "And probably when I'm not around too," he amended. "Therefore, you must be saying something."

There's no fucking fault in that logic, so I kinda had to be impressed with that.

"Dude, I swear I haven't said anything specific about you," I hedged, knowing as I said it I shouldn't have phrased it that way.

He glanced at me, long enough for me to pick up the I-don't-believe-a-fucking-word-of-that look, and returned his eyes to the road. We passed the turnoff to the street where Carlisle lived, which totally distracted me because ever since I had found out about the radio room, I was itching to go home and gather up some of my discs and make some new ones.

"Dude, you totally missed our street," I went for misdirection, hoping that if I sounded pathetic enough, maybe he'd forget about this whole Alice line of questioning, not that I was holding my breath.

He kept on driving without a word, totally making me his bitch; I didn't even know where we were going for fuck's sake. I made a production out of sighing dramatically. If this was how he wanted to play it, I was at least gonna annoy the piss out of him.

"Let's go back to the 'You didn't say anything specific' part," he suggested pleasantly. Goddammit, I hated when he did that; he sounded just like Carlisle.

"Ok, look. I might…," I said placing extra emphasis on the word, "…_might _have told her that she may or may not have piqued your interest," I admitted.

He remained silent, the muscle in his jaw working as it did when he was concentrating. I felt kind of stupid, so I added hastily, "I swear though, that's all I said. Hardly seems like the kind of stuff that gets you murder-death-kill looks," I grumbled.

He frowned at my admission, but didn't say anything. "That doesn't make any sense," he finally said, jaw muscle twitching again and brows furrowed.

Ok, well at least he didn't seem to care that I'd told her that. Guess I wasn't wrong then.

"Ok, so can we go home now?" I asked, trying to change the subject. Seemed to me like the less said about that whole Alice thing, the better.

"You know, I'd really prefer it if you'd keep your opinions to yourself," he observed.

I honestly couldn't believe he was being so cool about it.

"Look, the only reason I said anything about it at all was because she was kinda freaking out earlier, and she was kinda sounding like she didn't really like you, bro."

"When earlier?" he asked quizzically.

"During that tour or whatever, 2nd period," I replied.

"Ok, now that really doesn't make any sense," he said, a hint of frustration creeping into his tone. "Why doesn't she like me?"

That sounded like a rhetorical question if ever I heard one, so I didn't bother answering. And honestly, even if it wasn't, I had no idea. J was a good guy, all around; I don't think I've ever met anyone who didn't like him before. Plus, since he really did seem to be captivated by her, it would have just been rude.

"Hey, look," I suggested, "maybe Bella will know. You seem to be pretty tight with her for a first-day acquaintance."

"Yeah," he replied thoughtfully, as if he wasn't really listening. "She might know."

"So, did she say anything about me?" I finally asked, unable to stop myself.

He snapped out of it. "Who? Alice? Yeah, actually. She asked me about you a couple of times."

"Wh- no, not Alice. Bella," I corrected him. He didn't say anything right away. "Dude," I said, "Don't make me drag it out of you."

He seemed totally confused at the line of my questioning and with a question on his face, he turned a corner; almost immediately I was chuckling. There, riding down the road on a 10-speed, was one of the subjects of present conversation. It was like, too perfect. I gestured with my hand and said to J with a chuckle as we passed her, "And look, here's the perfect opportunity. Ask her if she wants a ride home- then maybe she won't think you're such an asshole."

He immediately began to pull over and gave me dry look that I'm sure would have been accompanied by some witty rejoinder, had we not all been startled by a big white…thing…that ran out of the bushes right in front of Alice's bike.

"Oh, shit," J spat as he practically jumped out of the car and ran in her direction, where she was now fighting with the thing…I guess it was a dog, that was licking her to death and screaming at it. I almost pissed my pants on J's leather at the scene unfolding, and took that as a cue to get out of the car. And even though the scowl she was wearing now had nothing to do with J, something told me he was gonna be on the receiving end of it, like it or not.

And what did I do, asshole that I am? I stood there and laughed at the poor bastard's misfortune.

**Ali, on the way home from Bella's, 3:39 PM**

I pilfered Bella's bike and made my way down the drive and out onto the street after hooking into my iPod. She doesn't care- we're cool like that and besides, every time she gets on the thing something happens. Last time, she'd hit a skunk. _A skunk._ With a bike. Outcome not good. How anyone can hit a small, slow-moving mammal at drastically reduced speeds is beyond me. Only her, swear to God.

I rode along leisurely, singing along with my tunes- it was a beautiful late summery day, despite all the anxiety I had picked up throughout the course of the day. It was actually kind of nice to be alone. I was ruminating pretty hardcore on whatever Bella had to tell me when a car passed me, then pulled off alongside and stopped about fifty feet in front of me.

_Oh shit. _It was a Vintage Jag, the only one I'd ever actually seen outside of Cruel Intentions. And I could definitely see blond hair where the driver's seat was. Jesus Christ, this day of torture was never-ending.

As I quickly approached the car, which was obviously waiting on me, I considered my options:

_Keep riding_- pretend not to see it and make a break for it. Surely he wouldn't follow. This sounded like a solid plan. If I got called on it later, I could always blame it on my iPod.

_Stop_- make small talk. _You're not afraid of a boy_, the independent woman in me challenged. Yeah, well, afraid or not, I wasn't exactly in the mood, either. I was supposed to be able to go home and try not to think about this disastrous day anymore.

In the end, the coward won and I made the decision to keep going. Just as I came up to the car though, with intentions of sailing right by, a dog burst out of the bushes to my right and directly into my path, causing me to scream and maneuver wildly as I tried to keep myself from overbalancing off the bike _and_ not hitting the dog. I ended up turning the wheel abruptly and not so gracefully half-falling, half-jumping off the bike in my effort to stay upright. For a fraction of a second, I forgot the Jag and its occupant, as images of a skunk floated around in my head. This was fucked up.

When all was said and done, I had managed to avoid landing on my ass, but it was far from over. The dog was one I recognized- he belonged to Esme's younger sister and he was most definitely NOT supposed to be roaming the neighborhood at will. He apparently recognized me too, because as soon as he realized I was standing there, he charged over to me in a madly excited state. Whatever ground I had accomplished in staying off my butt when spilling the bike was immediately surrendered as 140 lbs of Great Pyrenee met human. I don't even weigh 140 lbs- it was no contest. He knocked me back with such force that it knocked the wind out of me and then started slurping at my face, my hands, whatever he could find really, and I started yelling.

"Arrrgh!! Doodles! Get the fuck off me!! Oh my God!! DOODLES!!"

Through the madness I heard a car door slam shut and quick footsteps headed my way. I glanced up between dog tongue and mounds of white fur to see Jasper moving quickly towards me. _Perfect. My white knight, _I thought sardonically. He must have heard me screaming the dog's name because as he got near, he called "Doodles!" pretty loudly. The dog, having honed in on another human to love to death, left me without a second thought.

_Fucking traitor. _I pushed myself up into a sitting position, and from there onto my feet. As I checked to make sure nothing was broken, I became aware of a third voice guffawing with laughter from inside the car. I glanced over.

Edward. _Fucker_.

I gave him an evil look before glancing over at Jasper who had the dog relatively calmed and was frowning over at Edward himself.

_Ugh_. Nothing for it now. I couldn't really just abandon them with a strange dog, especially after Jasper at least attempted to help. That would just be really rude. I started towards them.

He turned his head in my direction as I approached gingerly. Man, I really needed a little more padding on my ass for the next time I happened to get assaulted by a large dog. His frown turned into a concerned one as he assessed the way I was walking.

"Are you all right, Alice?" he asked as he started towards me, which the dog took as an open invitation. Without even glancing at him, Jasper commanded, "STAY." And Doodles sat. _What the fuck._

A little too irritated to be awkward around him, or notice that he'd dropped the 'Miss' act, I stomped over to the dog who sat there with his tongue lolling out and responded huffily, "I'm fine…stupid dog."

Looking Doodles in the face, I said, "You're done dog- I'm blowing you in." His response was to try and drown me to death via licking. Edward continued his laugh track from the car, although at this point he had gotten out and was now leaning against it. I gave him another dirty look.

"C'mon Brandon! It was funny- you should've seen yourself!"

"Hi-fucking-larious," I muttered as Jasper approached with my backpack and iPod, which had gotten lost in the fray during my tumble.

"Oh, thanks," I said. Then the awkward started rolling in; I felt like I should say something else, but I didn't really know what.

"Look, I'm really sorry that you-"

"Miss Alice, seriously, are you-"

We both found ourselves trying to occupy the same speaking space, and both ended up abruptly stopping when we realized we were trying to talk over one another. He gave me a brilliant smile, causing my knees to go weak and the butterflies come back and just making me feel extremely self-conscious in general. Out of nervous habit, I straightened and reached up to play with my hair awkwardly while looking anywhere but at him, only to come away with leaves and bits of twig.

_Oh please, kill me now. _Jasper must have found my obviously horrified expression amusing because he laughed and moved closer, gesturing to my hair and asking, "If I may…?"

Without waiting for a response, he began pulling more brush and leaves from my now-tangled hair. He was now standing closer to me than he had at any point during the day and I felt a suffocating heat radiating up throughout my body; it was almost paralyzing. The sensation of him standing so near and playing with my hair felt extremely intimate. It was simultaneously the best feeling I had ever experienced and the thing in my life that scared me shitless the most. I looked up into his eyes, burning with…something, and noticed a half-smile on his face; he wasn't looking at my hair, he was watching me. I think I was holding my breath.

A moment later we were interrupted by Edward approaching us noisily, breaking the spell. He got nearer and Doodles went haywire- I could hear his dog brain…'_ohmigodanotherhumantoloveandlick!!!!!_'

'Down, boy,' he laughed at the dog. He didn't respond the same way as he had to Jasper's command, but he stopped mauling Edward all the same. Edward grabbed his collar and brought him over to us.

Jasper brought his hand away from my hair and took a step back; I hastily retreated a step or two back myself, mortified at this whole situation. As Edward got nearer with the dog, he said, "You ok there, Brandon?" with a smirk on his face and a look full of implication, his double meaning apparent. Jasper gave him another little frown. I decided to vent.

"Yeah fine, no thanks to you! Just wait until its your turn one of these days," I grumbled.

Funny how Edward, who outwardly seemed more my 'type', did nothing for me (except make me want to throw things occasionally), yet Jasper in all his quiet glory left my every nerve tingling. And I didn't know anything about him except he had an old-fashioned name, an accent that made me swoon and eyes that could speak, he played a guitar and drove an awesome car, and was apparently some sort of dog-whisperer. I'm certifiably nuts. Only explanation for wanting to jump a complete stranger like that.

Edward just laughed my comment off and looked down at the dog. "So, what do we do with this guy?" he asked, giving Doodles a ruffle on the head, who in turn attempted to slobber all over his hand. "You seem to know him."

I frowned, looking at the dog. "Yeah, I know him. He belongs to Esme's little sister. They live a few blocks away."

Jasper nodded. Edward asked, "Who's Esme?" and looked between us.

I heaved out a sigh. "She's my friend. You probably noticed her this morning in homeroom."

"Ohhh, the girl with the, uh…red hair?" he asked. I looked at him through narrowed eyes. I was 100% sure he was not actually thinking about her hair. Freaking Esme.

"Yeah," I said. "Well anyway, I suppose I should bring him back. He's not supposed to be out." Doodles barked, as if he could understand his days of freedom were numbered. "Hey, no lip from you buddy," I muttered to the dog. "You've caused enough trouble."

I turned around to look at the bike, lying twisted on the ground, and turned back around to the dog, oblivious as ever. _How in the hell was I supposed to work this? _

Jasper seemed to pick up on my frustration. "We could drop you off…wherever you're headed," he offered. Edward shook his head and chuckled, which Jasper pointedly ignored. I was starting to wonder if these two really got along, cousins or not.

"I really don't think you wanna do that," I stated definitely. "For one thing, I've now got a bike _and_ a dog, neither of which I think you want ruining your leather." I gave the abandoned car a pointed look.

Jasper chuckled and said, "Oh, no problem- we'll put the dog in the trunk," followed by another blinding grin. Despite myself and the situation, I gave in to the absurdity of the scenario and allowed a spontaneous laugh to erupt. Doodles barked again, apparently offended by the suggestion, which made me laugh harder. It seemed to fuel the amusement of the boys who kind of grinned at each other. Without further argument, Edward grabbed the dog's collar and headed toward the open car door, and Jasper walked around me to go for the bike. He picked it up and wheeled it over to the trunk, deftly picking it up like it was a toy and placing it in as securely as he could considering he couldn't shut it.

So, it looked like I was going with them. _Sigh. _Edward yelled, "You coming or what, Brandon?" half hanging out the backseat of the car. Lucky me, shotgun. I blew out a long breath and made my way to the car. Being careful not to touch anything except the seat with my ass for fear of scratching something or breaking it, I climbed carefully in.

"Nice car," I mumbled. Jasper grinned as he watched my cautious efforts. "Thanks. I like it," he responded. Ugh. That made me feel like a total loser for ending up in it with a dog and a beat up old bike. Just what he needed today, I'm sure.

"Where to?" he asked, starting the car up. I frowned. We weren't that far from Bella's house. I decided it would probably be best to ditch the bike; besides if she didn't see this with her own eyes, there was no way she'd believe me. On the other hand, I was pretty sure she would not appreciate me bringing Edward to her house. _Oh well, deal Bella. _

"Do you mind if we stop and drop off the bike first? Its, um, Bella's."

Jasper looked at me curiously as if to ask why on earth I was riding Bella's bike around, but he didn't voice it. He did however, look into the rearview and raise his eyebrows, for Edward's benefit, I'm assuming. _What the fuck was that look about? _

"No problem," he said, putting the car in gear. "Lead the way."

It didn't take us very long to get back to Bella's; I hadn't gotten very far in the first place. As soon as the car stopped moving, I was out and on my feet, saying offhandedly, "I'm just gonna go…yeah….so she doesn't wonder whose car…"

I ran up the steps, hoping they hadn't left for Declan's practice or whatever yet. Before I could reach it, the door crashed open, and Declan himself stood there with a big shit-eating grin on his face. "Hey baby, you came back!" he practically shouted. I flinched and rolled my eyes.

"Holy shit!" he exclaimed, looking past me. "Whose car is that?!" Before I could say anything, he was down the steps and approaching the car at breakneck pace. _Fuck._

I pushed my way in the door, yelling for Bella.

She came out of the bathroom, brushing wet hair, with a surprised look on her face. "Ali! What're you doing back here? Have you seen that little shit I call my brother? We need to leave or we're gonna be late."

"Bella, don't kill me," I started. "Declan's outside."

She stopped mid-stroke and stared hard at me. "Don't kill you why?" I didn't answer. She continued staring me down and said in a higher-pitched voice, "And what the fuck is he doing outside?!"

It all came out in a rush. "Ummmm, ok, so I kinda sorta borrowed your bike when I left earlier, and then I almost ran Doodles over with it and Jasper and Edward happened to be driving by and now they're out in your driveway. Dealing with Declan." I moved away from her, just in case she decided to take a swing with the brush.

"SHUT UP!" she yelled. She stood there, looking at me with a blank expression for a minute. Then she apparently decided to verify the facts, so she ran over to the window that faces the driveway and pulled the curtain back.

"Fuck! Fuck, Ali! Why did you bring them- oh fuckfuckfuck, he saw me!" She dropped the curtain and hot-footed it away from the window.

She started literally banging her head against the wall and groaned, "Fuuuuuuuuuck! And now I have to go get Declan."

"Um, hello!! _I_ have to get back in the car with them! And bring Doodles home!" I yelled a little hysterically.

She looked over at me with distaste on her face. "Fucking Esme." And then I had another thought. "Oh GOD, Bella…Esme…what if she's home when I show up in her driveway with these two in tow? Ohmigod, I am so fucked." I brought my hands up to my head in exasperation.

A loud knock at the screen door made us both jump. "Miss Alice? Miss Bella?" We heard Jasper calling through the open door. Bella breathed a deep sigh of relief- of course it didn't bother her that _he_ was here. They were all kinds of buddy-buddy, I thought irritably. She did give me a bit of a glare though, before making her way to the door, leaving me no choice but to follow.

"Jasper! Wow. You're here. At my house," she said in a disbelieving sort of way.

"Yeah, well, we had to stop and rescue Miss Alice," he said with a smile, "and came to return something that apparently belongs to you."

"Oh, right. My bike," she said, nodding. I noticed she was being careful to not let herself be visible through the screen. _Must be nice to try and be invisible_, I sulked silently. I sure wasn't having any luck with that today. As if on cue, Jasper looked directly at me and said, "I think we had better be on our way then, Miss Alice…our friend is getting a bit restless in the backseat." He motioned in the direction of the car, where Doodles was up on his front paws eyeballing his surroundings with his head half hanging out the open window and his tongue still lolling around, desperate to get out and love Declan up a bit. It was just lucky for us Jasper had put the convertible top up. Still, I cringed to think what the dog's nails were probably doing to the seats. When I saw a hint of dog slobber, I skated into action.

"Shit!" I swore, moving past Bella quickly and heading down the steps. "Later, Bells!" I yelled. "Doodles! Get down!" I scolded the dog. Edward, who was standing outside of the car now and talking to Declan, just laughed at me some more.

The slobber situation handled, a glance told me that Jasper and Bella were still talking. _What were they talking about? _I hate to admit it, but I most definitely have a jealous side. Like he somehow knew, he turned his head in my direction and smiled, then said something final to Bella and headed back to the car. Bella, still hovering out of sight, yelled loudly to Declan, "C'mon Dec! We're gonna be late!"

He ran past Jasper on his way up the steps and yelled back to me, "See ya later baby!" with a wiggle of his eyebrows. I smacked my forehead audibly and groaned; Edward was trying to stifle more laughter. Jasper got in the car and got it going again, but before pulling out of the driveway, he turned to look at me with a question in his eyes. "Baby?" he asked curiously.

"Oh GOD, don't ask," I groaned again. Edward couldn't contain himself in the backseat.

Stifling laughter himself, Jasper replied, "Yes, ma'am. Where to now?"

And with that were headed off to Esme's house. Because some god decided to accept my plea for mercy, Esme turned out not to be home. Her sister Jilly was though, and she was ecstatic that Doodles made it back unharmed. I handed the dog over gratefully, more than eager to get him out of my hands, and more importantly off of Jasper's leather…what a great first impression to make. And honestly, for as many times as this dog has slipped his leash and escaped, you'd think she would realize that everyone in town knows him and where he lives. There is virtually no chance the dog is _not _going to make it back home by this point. Christ, now even the newest members of the community were in the know, with an up close and personal look.

With the exit of the dog, the car became relatively quiet. I, for one, was uncontrollably nervous because with no other stops to make, the only place left was my house, which meant that now they would know where _I_ lived too. I sat stiffly in the passenger seat, moving as little as possible. I do have to admit though, as much as I would definitely not want to go through it again, the episode with the dog seemed to have broken the ice a little between Jasper and I. Just a little. Spending the afternoon with him, however unintentionally, caused me to rethink and rescind all of my earlier judgments of him. It didn't, however, make me any less…aware of him, or my fierce desire to touch, the end result being that my mind wandered over him all freaking night long, causing a restless nights sleep, and an anxiety about what tomorrow would bring. The desire to know was almost equal to the dread. Almost.

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**Love it when you review. That is all.  
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	7. We Can Work It Out

**I don't own any of it or make the moneys off it. I just have fun rearranging everything and making Jasper do what I want.  
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**I also do not listen to techno remixes of the Beatles. I'm with J on this one.**

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**Bella, 7:57 PM**

I couldn't call Ali like I'd told her I would after we got home from Dec's practice because I had apparently lost my phone again, and the second we walked in the door, Tory and James got home from the airport. After a supremely weird welcome home, he proceeded to hog the land line all freaking night, calling all of his 'friends' in town- those of us savvy know that he was _not_ catching up with his high school lacrosse buddies. I was almost one hundred percent certain from the day that I'd met him that James was put on this earth to annoy me. He's Tory's only sibling- her little brother, much younger than her, and she's always treated him like the sun rises and sets in his eyes. And since their parents died, he's pretty much lived with us almost the whole time Dad and Tory have been married.

In all seriousness, it's a little weird having an 'uncle' who's only 3 years older than yourself, and who you basically grew up with treating you like an annoying younger sister. I just tried to ignore him as best I could, usually not difficult. To be perfectly honest though, ever since he'd come home last time, he'd started leering at me in a way that made me totally uncomfortable. I mean, that's weird, right? No, we're not technically related, but even if he wasn't the bane of my existence, there's no way I'd go for that. Nooooo way. So gross. Just the thought made me want to throw up a little.

So obviously, I wasn't really horribly excited about him staying with us. I figured I would just have to do my best to stay away from the house, or always try to keep someone with me. That task would fall to Ali, naturally, being my best friend, and I could already see how well that was gonna go over…she'd disliked James even when we were kids.

After a completely awkward late dinner with the family, I'd escaped to my bedroom and locked the door behind me, settling in for the night. I tried to concentrate on willing my phone to appear, although seriously, after that stunt Ali had pulled this afternoon, no way did she deserve a call. But still, whether she deserved it or not, I couldn't keep myself from wanting to talk to her. If nothing else, I was eager to hear about her ride home. _Haha, bitch_… Oh well, now they knew where she lived too, I thought smugly.

The smugness disappeared when I considered the caveat to that sentiment. I had no clue how to deal with Edward. Absolutely no idea. I mean, I was attracted to him madly, but he intimidated me at least as much. And now I'd gone and made a complete ass of myself on at least three separate occasions, probably more. Including this afternoon when Ali had brought them over here. I slapped my palm to my forehead. What was wrong with her?? What was wrong with me?! Just mentally reliving that event was giving me stomach spasms. I grabbed the pillow that lay next to me on the bed and groaned into it. Why, why, why couldn't I just be a normal human being around boys?

Just then my computer made a noise at me; someone was IM'ing me. I jumped up, hoping it would be Ali. I hadn't yet considered that as an alternative to no cell. It wasn't her; it ended up being Esme, which was a bit surprising since we don't usually converse online.

_**EsMakesUWanna**__: Heard Ali was over here 2day….in a Jag! W/ some Texas hotties! Dish!!_

I laughed a little at her command, even as I shook my head. Esme is so…Esme. Hmmm, she'd said she 'heard', so she must not have been home when they'd dropped Doodles off. That was probably better for everyone all the way around. Still, Ali was not gonna be impressed when we got to school tomorrow and this was the talk of the town. I snickered to myself. It was no more than she deserved. I'm so evil sometimes.

Another noise from my computer.

_**EsMakesUWanna**__: Bella r u there?! COME ON!! I kno u kno sumthing!!_

I started snickering more as I responded.

_**HellsBells913**__: She was on her way home from here when she almost ran your dumb dog over with my bike. LOL Can't you guys keep him chained up or something??_

I knew that was nowhere even near what she wanted to hear, and I could all but picture her throwing her hands up in the air in frustration. I laughed more. I really am evil.

_**EsMakesUWanna**__: BELLA!! U SUCK! Srsly, what hppnd??_

Ugh, she drives me crazy with her chat speak.

_**HellBells913**__: Seriously (__that's how you spell it, FYI), all I know is that she almost ran Doodles over with my bike. Apparently Edward and Jasper happened__ to be driving by, and offered her a ride._

I conveniently left out the fact that they had made a detour; Esme was sure to spread this all over town and I did not need to be implicated, thank you very much. She totally ignored my attempts to improve her grammar too, no surprise there.

_**EsMakesUWanna**__: Just hppnd 2 be drvng by my ass!!_

That kind of took me by surprise though.

_**HellsBells913**__: What do you mean?_

The computer was silent for a minute, now of course because I was dying to know what she was getting at. Ali had always been a little more popular with the boys than me, and I'd seen her talking to Edward myself a few times during the course of the day. It would just break my heart if Edward was into her.

_**EsMakesUWanna**__: Uhh hellooooo…Ddnt u c Jasper staring her all day 2day??_

Wow. Ok. So not where I thought she was going with that. I hadn't, in fact, seen Jasper staring at her all day. The only time I'd seen them even look at one another was during introductions this morning. Was I just totally oblivious or had I been too distracted congratulating myself for being able to hold a conversation with him that I just didn't notice?

_**HellsBells913**__: Guess I missed that…really??_

_**EsMakesUWanna**__: OMG, he was like, undressing her w/ his eyes All. Day. Long. Cannot blv u missed that! Srsly!_

Seriously?! This was so news to me. I wasn't really sure what to make of it…he seemed to annoy her. A lot, from what I could tell. But then, Ali's always been pretty good at hiding stuff, and she so does, whether she thinks she does or not. I was still busy chewing on all of this when another message hit.

_**EsMakesUWanna**__: I totally think she's digging on him 2. But really, who wouldn't- effing HAWWWWT… especially with that car!! Did she say anything 2 U abt him??_

No. No she hadn't. Actually the last time I'd heard her say anything about him at all was during lunch, and again, she hadn't really seemed all that happy to see him. I must be missing something. It was probably totally obvious too. I wondered if she would have said anything to me if we hadn't been interrupted by my monster of a little brother and been able to actually have our talk earlier.

_**HellsBells913**__: She's hardly said anything about him at all, and when she did she seemed kind of annoyed with him. Where are you coming up with this stuff?!?_

_**EsMakesUWanna**__: Just a feeling I've got. Guess we'll see..._

And after a minute had passed with no response from me…

_**EsMakesUWanna**__: U think if she's not interested he'll go 4 me??_

Jesus_. _There's the Esme we all know and…well, know.

_**HellsBells913**__: Seriously, Esme. You are too much._

Just then someone knocked on my door. "Who is it?" I yelled. Feeling like I was rather done talking to Esme for the day, I sent her another quick IM.

_**HellsBells913**__: Gotta go! See you tomorrow!_

"It's just me," came a muffled male voice through my door. _Ugh, James_. I rolled my eyes and grimaced. Really didn't need him coming near my bedroom and being a creepster. I gave a little shudder complete with hand movements for no one's benefit but my own.

"Ummm, I'm getting ready for bed. Can we talk tomorrow?" I asked, trying to not sound weird and already plotting ways to avoid tomorrow's impending conversation as well.

"I've got your phone," he called back through the door. "Thought you might like it back tonight."

That got my attention. I walked over and opened the door slightly, peering out through the crack and holding my hand out, trying to make it clear that I wasn't in the mood for family bonding right now. He was lurking outside the door and arched an eyebrow and chuckled at my shifty behavior, clearly amused at something, but didn't hand my phone over right away. I forgot the creep factor secondarily and pulled the door open a little wider.

"So…you got my phone or what?" I asked curtly, keeping my hand extended.

"Here ya go," he said, producing it from somewhere off to the side of him that I couldn't see well and dropping the little device into my palm, which my clutzy self almost dropped immediately. James laughed at me again.

"Thanks," I responded, making to shut the door. No need to encourage him. I almost had it shut when I thought to turn and ask, "Where did you find it?"

He smirked at me, which made my skin crawl, and said, "I didn't. Declan did. He didn't say."

"Oh," I said. Weird. "Ok. Well, thanks," I repeated, this time closing the door firmly behind me, turning the lock and waiting to hear receding footsteps. It bothered me just a little that I didn't hear them right away.

Excited that I had my phone back, I glanced at the clock, thinking I could finally call Ali. It read 10:04. I frowned and internally debated, ultimately deciding against it. It was kinda late to be getting into the type of conversation that I anticipated us having, and besides, my phone was half dead. Unfortunately, the only outlet not in use was near my closet, and I wasn't up to sitting on the floor long-term. And how annoying would it be to get into it full swing and then have the phone die mid-conversation?

So instead, I plugged the phone in and turned to my closet, wondering what I should wear for tomorrow's torture-fest, before turning out the light and attempting to sleep. Key word being _attempting_.

**Jasper, 10:31 PM**

I finally called it a night, went to my room, took off everything but my boxers and climbed into bed after brushing my teeth. I didn't bother turning the radio on as is normal habit for me; I'd spent the last three hours helping Edward go through CD's and mix tapes because he had it in his head that he was going to make use of the radio room at the school, and I was just over music for the moment. You know its time to give it up when you find yourself stuck listening to techno mixes of Beatles songs. That's just wrong.

I lay there with my arms behind my head, staring at swirly pattern of the stucco in the ceiling, just thinking about the events of the long, and equally interesting, day. Edward and I had spoken about them hardly at all after the episode with the dog. I wasn't ready to share my thoughts just yet and had opted not to bring them up, and though he played it off like he had nothing to say, I got the feeling he was withholding information too.

I know it sounded crazy when spoken aloud, but I was almost one hundred percent certain that Alice was exactly what I wanted in a girl. Even after knowing her for only fourteen hours, and being scowled at most of that time, I was pretty sure. I felt a strange sense of relief; back in Texas, I'd been relatively popular with the ladies, but had never gotten past a first date. I'd often wondered if I was waiting for something that didn't exist, or if I was being too picky. With every girl I'd ever taken out, I had the thought that maybe there was someone out there who was better for me. There was no logic to it, but I felt like I would know her when I saw her. So far, I'd just never felt that…connection.

But with Alice, it was different. I didn't really know how to explain it; it just was. I wouldn't say it was love at first sight. Honestly, I knew next to nothing about her. Yet. And it didn't really have to do with lust either. She was certainly more than attractive to me in the physical sense; my body reacted and there wasn't much I could do about that. But it wasn't like I just wanted to screw her brains out. Although the thought had its merit and definitely caused my boxers to tent a bit.

I considered what I had observed of her during the day. She was obviously a beautiful girl. She had a smile that could light the room…when it was genuine. Not that I had been on the receiving end of one of those. She was clearly a good friend and loyal unto death- I hadn't even needed Bella's reassurance to pick up on that. She had some serious bravado on the outside, like she really just didn't care, but I sensed it was hiding something.

She was…fascinating to me, an enigma. Like no other girl I had ever met. I wanted to know everything about her, find out what made her tick. I wanted to really get inside of her, battle my way through her complexities. More than that, I wanted to be the one she trusted more than anyone, the one she couldn't wait to share good news with and the one who could put a smile on her face. The one she turned to for comfort when she needed it. Her persistently prickly demeanor told me that she thought herself above such needs, which probably actually meant that she could use it more than most. Again, I wondered what had happened that made her so defensive.

I closed my eyes and let myself re-live the day, playing every encounter I had with her over in my head, the primary difference being that she was actually happy to see me in my mind's eye. In my head, she smiled when she saw me, moved closer to be near me, and even touched me flirtatiously once in awhile instead of going stiff and shutting herself off. Thinking about these completely unrealistic events put a smile on my face and turned me on more. Christ, I was probably losing it. I scrubbed my hands over my tired face, hoping to bring myself back to reality long enough to think this through thoroughly.

A soft knocking at my door shook me out of my fabricated bliss and made me even more painfully aware that my body definitely reacted to mere thought of her. Even though I was under my blankets, I drew my right leg up toward my chest in an effort to conceal my uncooperative anatomy just as the door opened slightly and Carlisle unceremoniously popped his head in.

"Why does Edward have what looks to be our combined CD collections laid out all over the living room floor?" he asked without preamble. I rolled my eyes and said with no small amount of exasperation, "Ahh…he apparently has grand aspirations of becoming quite possibly the only student DJ Forks High has ever had. Is he still butchering the Beatles?" I couldn't help but wince.

Carlisle gave a short bark of laughter, and said, "Was that what that was? Jesus." He cringed too. "They still have that old radio room at Forks High? That's so crazy. I remember this one time, me and my friend Emmett got detention for breaking into the radio room and trying out our DJ'ing skills during third period on Senior Prank day."

I found myself interested in this tidbit from his past; cousin or not, I had never had a chance to know Carlisle very well until we'd moved here. "You got detention for wanting to play something in the radio room?" I asked with a touch of sarcasm in my tone. "Seems a little harsh," I observed.

"Yeah, it wasn't so much that we'd broken in though as what we played," he said with a mischievous look on his face.

I cocked my head to the side, waiting, not bothering to disguise the curiosity on my face.

It was a recording that we had made of what the principal and his secretary would sound like if they were talking dirty…and I swear to God, Emmett did a perfect imitation of his secretary," he laughed to himself. "Oh, good times."

"Principal Swan?" I asked a bit incredulously, trying to imagine that unsuccessfully. Carlisle's eyes danced. "Oh yeah," he replied excitedly, "and it was his first year as principal too! We got reamed out pretty good by Swan, the secretary, my mom _and_ Mrs. Brandon but it was so worth it. We were hailed as legends for the rest of the year…"

He snickered to himself again and I gathered from the distant look in his eyes that he was re-living his own high school moments for a minute or two, which if we were being completely honest, weren't really all that long ago.

"Carlisle, you only graduated nine years ago. No need to make it sound like it's your fifty year reunion coming up instead of your tenth," I pointed out pragmatically.

He made a face at me and pushed the door open a little more, leaning on the jamb. "Kind of feels like it was fifty years ago sometimes. Especially since I've assumed the legal guardianship of two teenage boys. Oh, and let's not forget the part where I live at the hospital and have no social life, when half of my friends have gotten married and started procreating. It's kind of depressing."

I know he didn't say it to make me feel bad, but still, feel bad I did. He had hardly known my parents and had definitely never asked to gain two responsibilities like us; we were damned lucky he could afford to take us in. "I'm sorry if us being around is a pain in your ass…" I started.

"Oh, no, no, no. That's not what I meant- I'm glad you guys came here…and actually, having you guys here could probably only improve my social life. Sure couldn't hurt it. I'm just thankful Edward isn't my sister…I can only imagine trying to be the guardian of two teenage girls." He shuddered at the thought.

For some reason, my mind chose that random moment to zero in on his earlier statement about being lectured for his teenage pranks.

"Wait, did you say you got reamed out by a Mrs. Brandon?" I asked, probably seemingly out of the blue.

Carlisle threw me a confused glance before he realized that I was going back to earlier conversation. "Oh yeah, she's Emmett's mom. Do you know her?" He gave me another confused look.

"Ah, no…but I met a lady at school today with that last name. Alice?" I questioned nonchalantly as I watched him closely. My heart was beating a little harder at the sound of her name. It couldn't be this easy.

"Alice…oh, you must be talking about little Ali! Wow, I haven't seen her in ages... she must have been about eight or nine the last time I hung out with Emmett. She's in your class? Okay, _now _I'm really starting to feel old. Thanks a lot."

With that he shook his head and laughed a little. "So how was the first day anyway? Did it totally suck?"

I shook my head. "No, actually. It turned out to be a lot better than I thought it would be. Tomorrow should be interesting." _Truly._

"Cool, glad to hear it," he said as he backed out of the door and grabbed the handle.

Well, I don't know about you, but I'm down for the night. We both gotta get up early," he said. That's what I love about Carlisle. He definitely tries to act guardian-like when he remembers, but he doesn't try to act like my father. It's definitely more like having an older brother.

"Yeah, I'm pretty beat. Can you hit the light on your way out?" I asked, gesturing to the switch. My hard-on had long since died down, but I was pretty comfortable in bed and Carlisle was already standing right there.

"Sure. Night Jas," he said before flipping the switch and closing the door behind him, leaving me alone with my thoughts once more in the darkness.

I resumed my perusal of the stucco pattern, partially visible in the light from the street, and let my mind wander over ways to achieve my goal some more. It probably wouldn't be a bad idea to see if Carlisle had any useful information since he knew the family, and I was fairly sure I could get Bella talking- it felt wrong using her in such a way, but I convinced myself that the ends justified the means. I mean, surely she wanted her best friend to be happy. And I wanted to make her best friend happy. Seemed a perfect combination to my mind.

My mind started methodically making a list of what I could do to get her comfortable around me. She seemed to appreciate my style, if the intense glance I'd caught in the courtyard during lunch had been any indicator. So obviously, physical attraction wasn't the problem. Unfortunately, that still left a whole wide world of options to sort out and overcome. In the end, I decided my best shot at getting her to let me in was to just let things stew for a bit while I did my research. You don't go into war without a strategy; I figured this was kind of like a war. And our interlude with Doodles had been rough on my car, but I felt like maybe I had won that battle…she hadn't seemed _as_ stiff and grudging by the time I'd dropped her off at her house. Better to fall back on a more positive note and use the ground I'd gained to my advantage. Hopefully our run-in this afternoon had given her a better impression of me, and if I was really lucky, letting things rest would only pique her interest.

This was a small town, no bigger than the one I'd come from. I knew how to make it work for me, and I already had the advantage of having her off guard, intentional or not. Tomorrow I would begin my campaign to win her heart; it would take immense patience on my part, I suspected. But that was alright. I had time on my side. Satisfied that I had a plan, I tried to clear my mind and fall asleep. Tomorrow couldn't come fast enough.


	8. You Always Get A Second Chance

**Trying something new out with the POV's, so chapters might seem a little shorter. But hopefully, they'll also seem more coherent and helpful for anyone who's having a problem getting a 'feel' for the characters...**

**And here is where I have to give a huge shout out to PinkyStardust, who has been extremely supportive and helpful in the writing of these last couple chapters (even though I forgot to say so). She's responsible for Esme's cheeky screen name from last chapter, and Emmett's awesome car. Oh right, you don't know about Emmett or his awesome car yet.**

**Read on. And don't forget to let me know what you think!**

* * *

**Ali, Second day of school, 6:35 AM**

I opened eyes that felt like they had at least an entire bucket of sand in them to a dim fall morning, feeling completely unrested and equally unready for the day ahead of me. I had absolutely no desire to drag my ass out of bed but I knew that Charlotte, my stepmom, would never let me get away with purposely ditching on the second day of school. She's cool and I love her, but she's not _that_ cool. I lay in bed and pondered my options.

I could always attempt the honesty route with her; we were pretty close. But if I told her that the truth was that there was a guy at my school who made my girly parts tingle and that I pretty much wanted to die of embarrassment every time we interacted, or even just wound up in the same room together, she'd probably just laugh at me and tell me to tough it out. An image of Jasper entering homeroom yesterday appeared in my mind unbidden. My mind clamped onto the visual of those expressive eyes and those dimples and all that ridiculously touchable looking hair of his and it was causing a flicker of awareness in said girly parts even now. And I sure as hell had no time to satisfy _that_ desire at the moment, or the inclination even if I did have the time. It cannot be normal to want to touch yourself after knowing a guy for like, twenty-two hours. Just the thought made me want to pull the covers back over my head.

Worse still, if I did attempt to have a girl to girl with her, Char would probably throw a party proclaiming Jasper's effect on me to the world- she was forever asking me when I was going to bring a boy home. Sometimes, I got the feeling that I was not nearly as...well, girly…as she would like in a daughter, even a step-daughter. In any case, the very thought of her reaction to my admission of hormonal distress was horrific enough to have me throwing back the comforter and my feet unceremoniously hitting the hardwood floor.

Glancing at the clock I was alarmed to find that I had wasted nearly ten precious minutes. On a positive note, Bella would definitely be up by now. She always got to school tragically early because she went in with her dad. I grabbed my phone off of my nightstand, expecting at least a text from her since she hadn't had the decency to call me last night like she promised.

Nothing.

I sulked at my phone for its inconsiderate lack of attention, and sent her a message.

_You around or what? Thanks for calling last night, btw._

I tossed the device on my bed and made my way to the bathroom. After turning the water on to warm up, I checked myself out in the mirror. My hair was positively mad, sticking up and out everywhere, and my eyes were ringed with the mascara I had neglected to wash off before bed last night. _Scary. _Good thing I'd gotten up early enough to hit the shower; although there was no way I was gonna have time to do anything to tame my hair now, which was in the midst of a totally funky growing out stage. Oh well, it was just gonna have to do it's sticking out everywhere thang. Normally, that thought didn't faze me; I was a bit annoyed to find that it bothered me for some reason this morning.

I stripped, brushed my teeth and showered quickly -the only viable upside to a manic decision to chop all one's hair off. When I got back to my room, I grabbed the phone off my bed to see if Bella had gotten back to me- nothing yet. I turned in frustration to my closet as I yanked on my favorite cords, scanning the offerings for an appropriate top. I jumped when the phone beeped at me; it sounded unnaturally loud in the early morning silence.

_Sorry, lost my phone last night. Had to leave earlier than normal this AM- James got in last night. : /_

Damn Bella and her penchant for losing everything, I thought, making another face at my phone. And oh yeah, James. Ewww. I had momentarily forgotten that gem in the middle of all the crazy yesterday. I really, really dislike James, who is technically Bella's uncle I suppose, even though he's hardly much older than us. Well biologically anyway- as far as maturity level he was at least a five to ten years younger on any given day. And_ Australopithecus _probably had a more diverse emotional range; it certainly ran circles around him in intelligence, in my opinion.

Still, I didn't see how Bella leaving earlier and James were connected- unless she was actively avoiding him, which totally made sense now that I thought about it, because that's what I would do if I was stuck in her situation. My phone beeped again in my hand.

_Meet me in the usual spot when you get here._

The 'usual spot' is a study alcove in the back of the library. We go there when we don't want to worry about being overheard- there's almost never anyone there, and at this time in the morning, the quad would be teeming with our peers-lately-turned-stalkers, yet another reason to avoid that area like the plague right now. It generally wasn't a great idea to try and force Bella's awkward on the student population first thing in the morning, and I'm certainly not Miss Congeniality at seven thirty in the morning. And besides, after all the drama yesterday we'd probably be part of the early morning locker chat. No and thank you.

I sent her a quick affirmation message and turned back to the closet, grabbing the first thing that looked like it vaguely matched; I'd killed a lot of time between Bella and my own mental meanderings and now I had to go or else I wasn't even going to make it in time to meet up with her. I grabbed my little cosmetic bag from the bathroom and my backpack out of the chair in my room and thumped my way down the stairs in a rush to get out the door. Char was in the kitchen, having not left for work yet. We didn't normally pass each other this way in the morning-she routinely left for work before I did for school. I tried to rush past her, but it was a no-go.

"Ali, are you leaving for school already?" she asked incredulously. It is not a secret that we are sleeper-inners in this house when we can get away with it.

I halted and said, "Yeah, I'm meeting up with Bella before school starts."

"Well, aren't you going to eat befo- well, now who on earth could that be this early?" Char broke off with a mystified expression as we both heard a car pull in, the kill of the engine and a door slam with some weight behind it. The sound, and the feeling that accompanied our early morning guest was excitably familiar. Char made her way to the window while I headed straight for the door, unable to believe the evidence of my own ears and a sense of anticipation burgeoning as I tried to control my rampantly escalating excitement. _Pleasepleaseplease let it be him_. I pulled the curtain back and peeked outside just long enough to see the loud kelly green of what could only be my brother's 1968 Camaro Z28 before screaming, "EMMETT!!" at the top of my lungs, dropping my backpack and fighting to get the door open in an ungainly haste. Bella was forgotten.

At the sound of my voice, Em poked his head out of the trunk where he was hauling a bag out and gave me a big grin, dimples flying everywhere. I ran towards the car, and the man, at full speed knowing he would catch me. Emmett always caught me. No matter what. He dropped the bag, straightened and held his arms out wide, knowing the routine- it had been this way since we had first met, him at age eleven and three quarters, myself at the tender age of four.

Emmett was my step-brother, Char's son from her first marriage, but we'd never had the awkwardness between us that the relationship implies. He'd always been my big brother, who I had positively hero-worshipped in our younger years. Alright, so I still kind of hero-worshipped him. Seriously though, I know a lot of people who have completely biological siblings who don't get along half as well as we do.

"What up, Gator!" He yelled with a big shit-eating grin on his face as I tackle-hugged him, which let's be honest, barely moved him. Em's not a small guy. I held on for all I was worth, taking in his familiar scent and exhaling heavily. I felt the sting of happy tears in my eyes and fought them. We hadn't actually seen Emmett in nearly three years; he'd decided to go to college on the East Coast, took summer classes to finish early and hit up Wall Street directly after graduation for a job. We'd scrounged and made the trip to New York to see him graduate, but our family doesn't have a lot of extra money now that Dad isn't in the picture so to make it easier on his mom, he'd found a place in New York while he was interning and we'd gotten by on calls and the internet. Char and I get along great on our own, but I know there are days when both of us missed the hell out of having Emmett in the house. Emmett is the rock in our family; solid and tangible and grounded. He's the sunshine and eternal optimism that we depend on when our moods get the best of us and we retreat into ourselves. And when he's gone, his absence leaves a big gaping hole in the fabric of things. I don't think I'd ever really felt that so acutely until now. I felt a tear escape the corner of one eye and slide down my cheek. It only made me hug him harder. He swung me around like I was a little girl again and on the way back down to the ground, I noticed Char standing on porch steps, wiping at her face even though the smile she was sporting could have lit the town after sunset.

"Em," I whispered, "You'd better go say hi to Mom," nodding in her direction as he turned his head. The goofy grin still in place, he plopped me down on the ground and put one heavy arm around my shoulder, swiftly making his way to the porch and dragging me with him whether I wanted to go or not. He stopped at the bottom step and looked up at his mother. I watched both of their faces alight with love and maybe even a little disbelief that they were both standing there looking at each other, and for a few moments I forgot all about the distractions of my life and could only think of the good things, the things I was certain about. Char stood still, almost as if she was afraid that if she made any sudden movements, he might disappear. I could understand her hesitation. If he hadn't been leaning so hard on me, I might have a hard time believing he was here too.

She walked downs the steps slowly and carefully as she wiped at her tear-stained face, and stopped on the bottom step, which almost made her taller than her son. She reached her hand out hesitantly and whispered "Emmett." With a smile lighting his whole face, he said, "Momma," as he dropped his arm from my shoulder and reached out to engulf his mother in a big bear hug. Char let out a strangled sob as Emmett squeezed the air out of her and she and hugged him back fiercely. I actually felt warm and fuzzy inside, and not for the first time completely grateful to have been chosen to be a member of this family, and accepted fully even after my link to it was otherwise gone.

"Group hug! Get over here, Gator!" Emmett yelled and caught me by the neck, pulling me in for a family smoosh session. "I've missed my girls," he said happily. "Good to be home."

Just then my phone went off in my pocket, snapping me back to reality. I fidgeted it out of my pocket somehow even with Emmett squeezing the crap out of me and saw that it was a text from Bella. _Bella. _Shit.

_Are you here yet or what?!?_

"Crap," I muttered. "Forgot about Bella." I wiggled my way out of the crush and checked the time on my phone. It was 7:30 now; I'd been angling to catch up with Bella at 7:15 or so. If I left now, I'd be getting to school right about on time, which was totally not useful anymore. My earlier inclination to ditch came back full force, and Emmett might just provide the perfect opportunity. I'd bet Char would let me stay home now- I hadn't seen him in three years after all, and I was just guessing she would be wanting to stay home too now.

"Mom, can I stay home today? Please? I wanna hang out with you and Emmett." I gave them my best hopeful face.

"Ali, I don't know. It's only the second day of school…you really shouldn't miss class so early in the year," she reproached weakly. I knew I had her. Then Emmett had to go and ruin it. Jerk.

"Nah Gator, go to school. Mom, you should go to work too. I've been driving all night and I'm beat- gonna go in and crash for the day anyway. We can hang out later."

He reached out and ruffled my hair like I was some ten year old Little Leaguer and I swatted at him. Good thing my hair was already screwed up today. I scowled at him as I pulled my phone back out and replied to Bella.

_Just leaving the house : ( Emmett showed up. : D Be there soon. Guess I'll hafta meet you in homeroom._

I went back in and grabbed my backpack off the floor where I'd dropped it. When I came back out, Emmett had gone back to his open trunk and hauled a couple of duffel bags out, and was carrying them towards the house.

"Guess I'll see ya later," I said sulkily as we passed each other. He paid no attention to my bad attitude, but instead said cheerfully, "Hang out a minute Gator- let me just dump these in the house and I'll drive you. Get in the car."

Well that was something at least. I diverted my course, saying goodbye to Char and made my way to the passenger seat of Em's Camaro. He'd had this old thing forever. I mean, I know it's supposed to be a classic or some shit, but it had been rough, and I mean _rough_, when he first got it. He'd restored the whole thing himself more or less, with a little bit of help from my dad before he'd gotten so sick. It was amazing what he'd done to it, I thought as I surveyed the gleaming dashboard and strange knobs and dials that hadn't been there the last time as I settled myself into the sleek black leather seat and waited for Em. That was definitely new and my ass was glad for it.

He must have dumped his bags in the kitchen, because he was in the car and starting it up like twenty seconds after I got in. He must have noticed the incredulous look on my face because he asked enthusiastically "How ya like Rosie now?" caressing the shiny dash in front of him. "I've had her completely re-upholstered, and installed a kickin stereo system." I rolled my eyes and laughed at him. This car was like the love of his life and that wasn't even a joke.

He grinned and pulled out of the driveway heading toward the high school. It wasn't a long ride- we only lived a few blocks away, but it was nice to even get a ride once in awhile. He had elected to pull up in front of the teeming quad though, which was distressingly embarrassing for me, but I know Emmett. He wanted his car, and himself, to see and be seen. And it worked.

A cursory glance easily yielded the red of Esme's hair and Rosalie's platinum blonde; their clique appeared to be holding court over one of the picnic tables, part of the crowd yet separate somehow. I could see Mike, Eric and Tyler flirting with Skankley and her brigade, who were hanging out with a bunch of other kids from our class as well as a couple of underclassmen.

My heart rate picked up and I smothered a gasp/groan when I spotted Jasper casually sitting on a bench like he had been yesterday when he was playing his guitar- and looking equally as delectable, maybe more even. Instead of holding onto a guitar though, he was leaning forward with his hands clasped between his knees, drawing attention to the loose-fitting denim he was wearing with artfully placed rips and tears. I had the sinking feeling that this boy would look good wearing a garbage bag, which only served to reinforce my firm belief that he wouldn't have any interest in a mismatched freak with crazy hair like me…y'know, if I was interested anyway. _Keep telling yourself that_, traitor me crooned in one ear.

I couldn't help myself from taking in a good eyeful; he was wearing another stylish ensemble, this one screaming vintage rack complete with the most worn and scuffed looking cowboy boots I had ever seen. In that moment I really regretted not taking that extra five minutes this morning for myself, no matter how humiliating it might be in the end. God knows it wouldn't be long before I gave in if this was going to be standard issue.

Predictably, everybody stopped to stare as Em pulled the Camaro up to the curb. Well, Jasper didn't stare so much as observe with that unwavering intensity that he had about him. It didn't escape me that my mouth was watering at the sight of him much like it had when I'd first seen him yesterday. His fair hair was fluttering around his perfect features in the soft wind, making the lighter streaks hidden in the honeyed waves appear to catch the single ray of sunlight that had just decided to peek out from behind a cloud. It gave the illusion of almost being glittery- like I was a magpie and he was my own personal sparkly trinket. And how he managed to look so stoic all the time, when I knew firsthand how beautiful he was when he smiled, was beyond me. The whole thing was making me warm and squirmy and now I was heartily wishing I'd died before getting out of bed this morning. Forget self-gratification.

"Well, helloooo…" Em drawled appreciatively, breaking my concentration and reminding me of exactly where I was as he leered in the direction of the picnic table, where Esme was wasting no time putting her best breast forward. I started a little, mortified to have been caught so off guard, and hoped he hadn't noticed me zoning.

"Who's the hot blonde?" he asked with considerable interest and a wiggle of his eyebrows as he nodded in the general direction I'd been staring in. In a moment of sheer panic, all I heard was 'blonde' and I immediately went pink, sure I'd been caught. I breathed a sigh of relief as I realized I'd gotten lucky and he was looking _past_ Jasper, and looked again. Surely he didn't mean…

I think I looked at him in horror. "Seriously Em, I cannot believe you," I said as I got out of the car. "She's eighteen, you perv." _And I really don't need you to be making a fool out of me using the most popular girl in school besides._

"Hey, that's legal," he commented smugly. I favored him with a particularly disgusted look. "Ugh, you are so gross. I can't believe I have to acknowledge you as my brother sometimes."

"What?! C'mon Ali!" he yelled through the open window.

"Bye, Emmett," I replied definitively and turned toward the group of students now gathered and staring unabashedly; a lot of them didn't know Emmett. He had gone to school here before most of them had ever made it to High School, so only my closest friends knew him.

Because the whole situation wasn't discomfiting enough, he yelled loudly in response, "Later Gator!" I cringed and turned, giving him a dirty look that promised retribution. He knew I was about over that nickname in general, and that it was _definitely _not kosher for public use. He grinned at me and I knew that was his way of sticking it to me.

I ignored his dramatic exit, hoping that maybe I could make it into the school before he disappeared from sight and everyone re-diverted their attention back to the vicinity of the courtyard. For the most part it worked, with the exception, naturally, of Jasper, who was watching me approach with what I thought might be a small smile lurking in his eyes. Great, he'd apparently heard Emmett Loudmouth's parting shot; hopefully he was enough of a gentleman to let it go. I kept my eyes fixated on the cement of the sidewalk, my heart rate doubling with every step as I briskly approached the bench he was sitting on and hoped that my pink cheeks were less noticeable now that the sun had gone back behind its cloud.

The jumble of noise coming from the other students had now escalated to a dull roar- Emmett's flashy appearance had knocked Jasper and Edward out of the top spot on the rumor mill for the moment at least, which I was sure they would be thankful for once they realized it. I could still feel Jasper's gaze on me as I continued in his direction on the path, and I couldn't keep myself from looking up a slight bit as I passed him. He nodded to me and said, "Mornin' Miss Alice," with a charming smile that almost made my knees turn to jelly.

I could feel the blood heating my cheeks in the crisp morning air and I sensed that if I stopped, he would use my weakness as an invitation to join me and for some reason that freaked me right the hell out. So I looked back down at my feet posthaste, mumbled, "Morning," and continued on. I picked up my step, agonizingly aware that with Emmett's disappearance from sight, the diversion had died down and it wasn't just Jasper's quiet gaze that followed me into the building as the bell began to ring.

I practically ran to homeroom, fretting the entire way about how horrible and awkward today was going to be, and running through scenario after scenario of how I could avoid Jasper or at least sound more like a person with an actual modicum of intelligence if conversation_ was_ necessary. I mean, after that whole tour thing yesterday and the dog incident, I figured for sure both he and Edward would use that as an in to be friendly with us; no real way to avoid it, and honestly why should I? They both seemed nice enough, even if they did have their individual annoying things about them. So all I really had to do was figure out how to be nice to Edward, and not judge every word that came out of Jasper's mouth, and I should be fine, right? By the time he reached homeroom, I thought I had a pretty decent, if somewhat shaky, plan in place and I was ready for the worst.

And then the strangest thing happened.

Nothing happened.

All. Day. Long.

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**Review? Pretty please?**


	9. People Are Strange

**I really apologize for the delay in updating this; this chapter was a little hard for me to get out, but I'm too stubborn to just scrap it and start over. If you're still with me, I appreciate it. Reviews would be great, even if they're just to tell me this sucks. Again, sorry. Hope you enjoy.**

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**Bella, Second day of school, 6:35 AM**

I don't mind mornings. Really, I don't. But you really shouldn't have to sneak out of your house to leave for _school_, and even if you did, six-thirty in the morning is a ridiculous time to have to do it. I mean, there's just something inherently wrong about it. My dad is the principal of the freaking institution, and I was going to beat him there, I thought moodily. But there was no help for it this morning, or probably any morning for however long James would be home for that matter. School had turned into my sanctuary overnight, which was kind of shitty given the circumstances.

I opened my bedroom door- not all the way, in case it decided to creak- and peered into the hallway. No signs of life, doors all closed. I tiptoed warily past James's bedroom, wanting to be long gone before he woke up and gave me any kind of passing thought. As I passed my dad and Tory's room, I thought I heard the creak of the bed and a giggle, which kind of got the bile flowing, and I hotfooted it away from there as fast as humanly possible. I knew Tory wanted more kids (although, after Declan, _why_ I would never know) but I sure didn't need to be there for that. Eeeeeew.

I quickly made my way to the kitchen and grabbed an apple, the closest thing I would get to breakfast this morning, and headed out the door. Once I was safely out of the house I pulled my phone out of my pocket, which had gone off just as I was coming downstairs. I opened it up to find a text from an irritated Ali about me never getting hold of her last night. I made an impatient sound on being called out and responded; James had me so flustered last night that I hadn't even thought to send her a text to let her know I couldn't call.

"And where are we headed so bright and early this morning…Bella?" came a silky voice from one of the wicker chairs on the porch, drawing out the syllables in my name. My hair stood up on end and I gasped, a little startled to find myself not alone. And also a little annoyed that I had gone to all that trouble and had _still_ been unable to avoid James. I narrowed my eyes at him; he was still wearing the same clothes he had on yesterday, which told me I had been one hundred percent correct that he'd been catching up with his booty calls rather than old friends yesterday. I scowled and shoved my phone back in my pocket after firing off another quick text to Ali.

"I'm leaving for school. See you later," I hedged and started down the steps, hoping he would take the hint and go inside.

"It's awfully early isn't it?" he called after me. "You meeting up with someone before class?" he asked in what most would probably think was a casual voice, but sounded suspect to me. When I didn't answer right away, he asked slyly, "How's Ali doing these days? She have a boyfriend yet?"

I bristled a bit, but continued walking. "Ali's fine, and yes it's her I'm meeting. Bye," I called over my shoulder curtly, ignoring the boyfriend question entirely. He knew that Ali couldn't stand him, so I know he was just trying to irk me. I could feel him grinning and checking me out as he watched me take off down the street, but I didn't give him the pleasure of looking over my shoulder. As soon as the house was out of sight, I shuddered, feeling the urge to really throw up, and I was suddenly glad I hadn't gotten around to eating that apple yet. Any appetite that I had was now long gone, so I shoved it into the pocket of my hoodie and continued on my way, eager to get a chance to talk things over with Ali before the day got underway.

**Edward, before school, 7 AM**

J and I split up when we got to school this morning; I had spent most of last night putting together some great mixes and wanted to give that sadly neglected radio equipment a look. J was…less than interested, shall we say- a serious flaw if ever there was one, in my opinion. It's not that he's not into music- he is. But we have very different tastes.

I like electronic music. Techno, rave, trance, house- you name it. I can also be found listening to pop, hip-hop and rap on occasion. Pretty much, as long as it's got a beat, I'm there. J, on the other hand, has this thing for guitars that I really don't understand. Well, I guess its more like he has a thing for strings- I've heard him listening to metal, hard rock, classical, orchestral, folk, bluegrass and even country on one occasion that we've never acknowledged. But his favorite is without a doubt is Classic Rock, especially good old Southern Boy Rock. Don't get me wrong, I'll listen to that stuff if it's on- ok, well not country. Won't go near that with a ten foot pole unless someone's already mixed it and usually not even then if I can avoid it. I just don't get the hard-on for hair bands and hillbillies. But anyway, I digress.

Normally, he's pretty tolerant and he'll humor me- hell, there are even days that go by when he refrains from addressing me as the Music Nazi. Whatever. As long as he doesn't fuck around with my gear or my collection, we're cool. If he does, he'll find some of his Rebs suddenly fighting for the Union in that crazy ass diorama thing he has set up on his desk and that'll make him go batshit for sure.

Anyway. Today J didn't seem real into it- he was distracted and distant as all hell. So when he told me that he was gonna go 'get the lay of the land', whatever the hell that meant, I kept my mouth shut. I interpreted it as code for going to stalk that Ali girl, or some other weird ass thing that isn't typically like him. In any case, I suspected it meant that he was heading for the center of socialization in this joint and I did not need any of that, oh hell no. I shuddered at the thought of being attacked again the way I had been yesterday during lunch. I do fine on my own, thanks very much.

I rounded that last corner before Swan's office, thinking I'd take my request straight to the top and walked face-first into something small and good-smelling, hunched over with a whole lot of brown hair. It gave a surprised, indignant squeak and looked up at me with a flash of fire in its dark eyes and I realized that it was Bella, Ali's friend. She was clearly agitated about something- it was written all over her face for the space of about five seconds. But when her eyes met mine, her face shuttered and she went still as a statue, turning into the timid creature from yesterday, much to my disappointment.

Her face went pink. She immediately lowered her gaze back to the floor and mumbled, "I'm so sorry," before whirling around, clearly intending to sprint back down the hall in the direction she had been coming.

Christ Jesus, this girl must be scared of her own shadow, I thought in exasperation. To be honest, this kind of irritated the shit out of me and I couldn't even imagine going through this repeat performance for the rest of my high school career. I forgot about Daddy Swan and the radio station; this Swan was far more interesting to me at the moment. I'd tried talking to her yesterday in History, wanting to apologize for that whole situation after Gym, and I honestly think she'd attempted to respond, but I didn't hear what she said between the mumbling and that crazy insulation she calls hair. Apparently, whatever she'd said was not what she'd intended to say though, because she'd blushed for about 5 seconds before going white, pinched looking and stiff as a board. Before I could ask her to repeat herself, she'd swung back around as if she was pretending I didn't exist and remained upright and tense for the entire fifty minutes. It was unbelievable. I mean, I know I'm not the most personable guy out there, but was she serious?

I watched her running away from me now, a feeling of deja vu settling over me, and made up my mind instantaneously. If she didn't like me for some reason that was fine, but she could damn well own up to it. She made me feel like I had some sort of communicable disease and for some reason, even though I actually preferred people ignoring me, this time it was bothering me. I wasn't too interested in dwelling on that though.

"Bella!" I yelled after her, breaking into a light jog to catch up with her. "Wait!"

She stopped momentarily and I could see the indecision warring on her face- face the music or pretend not to hear me and continue on. The hesitation was just enough time for me to catch up and put my hand on her shoulder, effectively keeping her from bolting again.

She kind of jumped, or maybe flinched, when I touched her and went stock still again. She kept her eyes on her feet.

"Bella," I said, irritation pricking at me. I mean, really, when someone addresses you directly, don't you at least look at them, maybe acknowledge their presence?

Her eyes darted sideways for a second to look in my general vicinity, although not really _at_ me.

"Yes?" she asked in such a whisper that it was hardly audible even though we were the only people standing in this hallway right now. I realized with some amazement that she was shaking. Like, literally trembling. My attitude dissipated instantly. I mean, I know J is a little better with girls than I am, but this girl was giving off all the signs that she was scared to death of me. I'd yet to meet a girl who looked like she would rather jump in front of a train than talk to me. Yet…it made sense. Her behavior yesterday had been weird to say the least. And it didn't take much in the way of intuition to tell that today would follow that pattern. I'm not a very patient person; we needed to deal with this and resolve it _now_.

"Bella," I said, more gently now. She had an odd expression on her face and I finally realized she was holding her breath. She looked like she didn't even have any idea she was doing it. I let out a sigh, forgetting to temper the shortness I was feeling, and she flinched, making me feel like the world's most gigantic ass. More irritation flickered through me; how was this tiny wallflower doing this to me?!

"Look. Did I do something wrong yesterday?_ Say_ something wrong?" I demanded.

She held her silence, seemingly arrested, but her eyes had taken on a frantic quality. They seemed unnaturally sharp and liquid-like, giving them the illusion of almost pulsing- making them appear much darker than normal. _Was she going to cry?_ I thought somewhat dazedly.

"Bella?" I questioned hesitantly, my impatience forced aside. "Are you…ok?"

Nothing.

"I'm sorry if I scare you," I stated quietly, afraid that if I spoke too loudly she would bolt, and willing her to understand that I certainly didn't mean to. Her eyes quieted a little; she relaxed just a fraction of an inch, but I noticed. Yet still she said nothing. There was a tightness in my chest as I realized I was holding my own breath, waiting for her response. When none seemed forthcoming, I heaved out the dejected breath of air, giving up. I didn't know what the hell was wrong with this girl and I was fast starting to wonder if all the effort of finding out would even be worth it.

Spirits dampened, I took one last look at her frozen, delicate looking face and turned to leave before my frustration could re-ignite the impatience and I said something I would really regret. I glanced at my watch; it was too late now to ask about the radio room.

"Wait…" I thought I heard from behind me. I stopped instantly to hear better, the tight feeling returning to my chest.

"Edward?" I heard in a timid, hesitant voice. I turned slowly, wishing, hoping, that this was my chance to make some progress here. She was looking directly at me now, right at my face, although it was obvious that she was fighting some natural inclination to look down at the floor.

I waited again for her to say something- I mean, she had addressed me, right? I wasn't making that up, was I? When nothing like speech seemed imminent, I prompted, "Bella?" gently.

That seemed to unlock her. She started, flushed a deep red and began fidgeting- but she did not look away. I'd take it.

"I'm sorry," she stated nervously.

"For what?" I asked, thinking my confusion was evident. That wasn't what I had been expecting.

She heaved out a great sigh, giving off both resignation and utter humiliation.

"About yesterday," she said. "And today," she quickly amended.

My brows met in a perplexed fashion; I could feel the unconscious strain of the muscles in my face. What the hell was she talking about? Today hadn't even happened yet.

"What are you talking about?" I asked plainly, annoyed that I seemed to be missing something. She opened her mouth as if to speak, then closed it again.

"I…" she trailed off, on a second attempt, before thinking better of whatever she was trying to say.

It was eating me alive; finally my patience ran out. "Just spit it out!" I shouted in exasperation. _Bad idea. _She flinched and jumped at the command, harsher sounding than I'd meant it to be, which made me feel like an ass all over again.

I'm not exactly what happened next, but it seemed like my outburst caused her to snap. One minute I was trying to tamp down my irritation enough to apologize, the next she was spitting venom at me. Her spine went ramrod straight and she glared up at me with eyes that burned like a crackling fire. Her entire tiny frame trembled, and this was not of trepidation- that much I could tell.

"Oooh!" she squeaked indignantly, boring a hole through my skull with her death stare.

"Spit it out?" she finally asked in a broken albeit quiet voice. _Shit_. There was no way this could end well.

"You know," she said a bit harshly, "it must be nice to come to a new school and be the talk of the town…"- clearly she had no idea what she was talking about- "…have everyone fall all over themselves to paw at you, but you're dead wrong…"-she had her finger going now, inching closer to my chest with every gesture, causing me to step back involuntarily, "…think you're entitled to that kind of behavior!"

"Bell…" I tried to object, holding my hands out to either side, but she rolled right over me with her tirade. To say I was shocked at this show of temper would be an understatement.

"Not _everyone_ is comfortable around new people, or even people they've known for years, for that matter," she ranted, her voice escalating as she got going.

_Was that what this was about?_ My mind wandered momentarily as I considered that we might have more in common than I'd originally thought.

"…and just because you walk around looking like a Banana Republic ad and have perfect cheekbones and hair that probably looks sexy when you wake up in the morning…" she was practically shrieking now.

_Whoa, hold up_. Perfect cheekbones? Sexy hair? What _was_ this really about? I wasn't entirely sure anymore.

"Bella-" I tried again, a bit more urgently this time as the warning bell for homeroom rang, wishing she would calm down before the entire school came to life. That was the last thing I needed- to offend one of the locals on my second day of school. She was still going strong though.

"…and you'd better think again if you think I'll let you get away with treating me like that because you're cute or your dad's rich or whatever your story is!" she finished abruptly, cheeks starting to get pink and her breathing a little labored.

I stood there dumbfounded as I took her in- she was no longer part of the background. Her face was covered in a blush that practically made her glow, her eyes glaring daggers. Her down-turned mouth and the way she stuck her nose in the air ever so slightly, and completely unconsciously, I'm sure, was incredible. It was like Jekyll and Hyde! It was also causing some very strange sensations in the region of my stomach and slightly lower. I was almost even more amazed by my own thoroughly physical reaction than I was to the outburst itself.

"Bella, I…I…" I fumbled now, not exactly sure how I should treat this. _Definitely apologize_, my inner voice warned.

Before I could say another word, Principal Swan rounded the corner. He had a huge smile plastered on his face on spotting us and he clapped his hand on my shoulder as he beamed at Bella who was still a little red and still breathing a bit brokenly. He didn't seem to notice.

"Edward, Bella!" he boomed. "Glad to see you kids getting to know each other!" he said, looking back and forth at us, oblivious to any tensions. "I know how tough it is for new kids sometimes," he stated in my direction.

I raised my eyebrows slightly in acknowledgement and gave him a tight smile, watching Bella warily; the old man had no idea about the hornet's nest he'd just blithely stumbled into. The glare she was giving her father was murderous. I was stuck between a rock and a hard place; I sensed it would be disastrous to engage her father before fixing things with her, but on the other hand, he was the principal- the uppermost authority figure in my life for the next two years. And the man with the key to the radio room. And though I'd never concerned myself with it before, I was definitely feeling like I wanted to be on this guy's good side for some reason.

Trying to convey my apology with my eyes, which were locked on Bella's at the moment, I said, "Actually sir, we're finding Forks to be very, uh…welcoming." I turned my head to look at him, so he wouldn't think I was being disrespectful, or worse, ogling his daughter. That was a sure way to top the shit list quick. Even if she was attractive.

I knew I would regret it the minute I did it, but it couldn't be helped. I'd have all year to patch things up with Bella, I reasoned.

Sure enough, I could tell by her indignant sputter and malevolent glare that I'd stepped in it big-time as far as she was concerned.

"Well, I'm going to homeroom, before I'm late," she interrupted frostily. And with that, she turned sharply on her heel and stalked away, but not before sneaking another murder-death-kill look my way.

Swan turned his head to watch her leave and remarked, "Wonder what's gotten into her…"

I watched her retreat dubiously, my stomach sinking further with each step she took.

"Hmmm. Well, anyway," Swan turned back to me. "Guess you'd better get going too then," he said with another slap to the shoulder. "Glad to hear everything's going well- you just let me know if you or Jasper need anything."

With that, he turned to continue on his way, stepping around students now coming into the hallway. _If you or Jasper need anything…_

"Oh, sir!" I called after him. "I did actually want to ask you something."

"Yes, Edward?" He turned back in my direction.

"Well, yesterday when the girls were showing us around, Alice pointed out the radio room. I was wondering who I could speak to about using it during study halls, or lunch or whatever."

His genial expression disappeared instantly. "The radio room?" he repeated almost warily, it seemed to me. He seemed to be taking my measure, and I wasn't completely sure how to react to that. I shifted uncomfortably and said, "Well, you know…if it's ok? I just assumed it was there to use…" I trailed off, utterly confused by his now stony demeanor.

There was a moment of silence before he finally said, "I'll have to think about it. You'd better get to homeroom, Edward." And before I could say anything further, he turned and walked away stiffly, leaving me standing baffled in the hallway with the distinct feeling that I'd chosen my battles incorrectly this time.


	10. Breathing room

**Jasper **

**Homeroom, 7:26 AM**

Edward being late for homeroom didn't exactly surprise me, although I did think he'd at least attempt to be a little more conscientious about his (lack of) punctuality for at least the first week of school. Then again, I mused, if he'd been successful in gaining entrance to that music room, we'd be lucky if he showed up at all.

I swept my gaze around the room as best I could without actually moving my head and drawing undue attention to myself; it had really begun to fill up as my peers filed in and took their seats. The bell had to be close to ringing by now. I stopped involuntarily at the block of seats where Alice and Bella sat, and watched Alice pretend to read a book out of my peripheral vision. She was looking at its pages, but nothing about her expression indicated that she was taking a word in. I'd bet she'd read the first sentence about thirteen times by now. It took a little squinting on my part to make out the title since I didn't have my glasses with me, but I thought I saw the word 'ESP'. A little fascinated with her reading material, and still more preoccupied than I wanted to admit about who had been behind the wheel of that vintage Camaro, it took me a few seconds to realize that Bella wasn't there yet either.

Just then, the door swung open forcefully and Bella erupted through it, stalking to her seat and earning a look of disapproval from Mr. Banner. A few people jumped; I couldn't blame them. I didn't know her very well yet, but she seemed to be in an uncharacteristically bad mood. She sat down abruptly, causing the chair to scrape against the floor and making the hair on the back of my neck prickle. Idly, I wondered what had caused her obvious ire. Too intrigued to disguise it, I turned my head to take in the little not-so-silent battle Alice and Bella seemed to be embroiled in, and noticed that Bella's face was flushed and she seemed to be on the verge of…exploding, for lack of a better term. Alice caught my eye and her pained expression turned into one of guarded discomfort just as the homeroom door crashed open yet again, a mere second before the final bell. Distracted, I looked toward the door to see that it was Edward. And he was grinning.

**Bella **

**Homeroom, 7:28 AM**

This morning, it was me getting the look from Banner- though I was by no means late yet, even Esme had beaten me to homeroom. Ali gave me a weird look and stuffed the book she was holding into her bag, clearly alarmed at my tardiness, although it was masked pretty effectively by the obvious guilt she was displaying. For two seconds, I forgot I was mad at her and contemplated not holding it against her.

No sooner did I yank my chair out and sit down did the bell ring; I smirked in satisfaction- if I was nearly late Edward had to be. _Let him and his perfect cheekbones have that,_ I thought mean-spiritedly as I glanced toward the empty seat next to Jasper, who seemed as unruffled as ever by his cousin's absence. Fleetingly, scathingly, I wondered if there was anything on this earth that Jasper actually cared about- so far he'd displayed all of the emotional range of a teapot. And he _was_ related to Prince Charming after all. I immediately felt guilty for thinking such a thing- he'd been extremely nice to me yesterday every time I'd seen him, and here my aggravation was causing me to take it out on him. Like it was somehow _his_ fault that Edward was uppity.

The door opened abruptly and Edward stepped through, deflecting Banner's disapproving look quickly with a smooth, "I'm sorry, Mr. Banner. Mr. Swan was speaking with me in the hallway. I'm sure Bella will vouch for me," he said with a smile and a glance in my direction.

I crossed my arms and huffily sat back in my chair, putting on my scowliest face. Ali looked from me, to Edward, back to me, but didn't say anything.

"What?" I finally ground out.

"Uhhh…did I miss something?" she asked cautiously.

"Yes," I answered shortly. "That's what happens when you make plans to meet with someone and then ditch last-minute," I sulked, already in the perfect mood to play this game.

"Bella, it wasn't like that!" she responded vehemently in a whisper. "I didn't mean to get here so late! Emmett showed up!"

All at once, some of the tension fizzled and I turned to look at her, forgetting to give her the cold shoulder.

"Really?" I asked interestedly. It had been forever and a day since I'd seen him- it was almost exciting enough to make up for my crappy morning so far. When we were younger, Emmett had taken on the role of brother and protector for me just as much as Ali- maybe even more since Ali didn't have the same anti-social tendencies I did. I'd fallen a little bit in love with him in fourth grade when he'd knocked James around for teasing me. He'd made it pretty clear that he didn't care for James at _all_ and that's saying something. It's hard to get on Emmett's shit list; he likes almost everyone. On the other hand...James makes it awfully hard _to_ like him.

Anyway, I knew even as a young girl that my Emmett fantasies were just that, but that didn't mean Ali couldn't be my sister. If he ever knew about my crush, he never said anything and he never treated me any differently.

I turned my head sharply at someone nudging my shoulder; Ali.

"Well?" she whispered just as soon as the morning announcements ended. I purposely turned my back to Edward who was watching me kind of intensely; I was still annoyed with him.

Just as I opened my mouth to reply to Ali, the bell rang and the room erupted into a cacophony of chairs grating against the floor, sneaker squeaks and the garbled conversation of twenty-seven teenagers.

"I'm gonna have to tell you later," I said darkly as we stood up. "Sorry." I looked over Ali's shoulder to see Edward, grin still in place, heading towards me.

"Let's go," I bit off hurriedly, grabbing her arm and turning around to retreat. I'd had more than enough of this for one morning, thank you very much. Even in my distracted state though, as I glanced back, I was still able to find the matching looks of vague bewilderment on both Ali and Jasper's faces somewhat amusing. And the frown that had taken residence on Edward's as he watched us go made my morning.

**Jasper, **

**2nd period, 9:01 AM **

Second period took its sweet time rolling around, something I figured I was probably just destined to live with. I knew it was because, perversely, I was eager to be near Alice even if she was determined to shut me out…which seemed a likely scenario if one considered the ferocity of the attention she was giving her magazine and the brutality with which she was flipping the pages. I noted with some amusement that it was the same magazine I'd rescued for her yesterday in History, the one with all the supposed guidelines on sex positions.

She glanced over in my direction and caught me looking at the magazine; I nodded at her, a smile still lingering from my train of thought. She furrowed her brow at me but couldn't stop the blush from spreading, indicating that we were on the same page, no pun intended. She made a show of turning back around and ignoring me.

I expelled a somewhat frustrated sigh and slumped back a bit in my chair. I noticed for the first time then that Bella was again nowhere in sight yet I knew she was in this study hall. I wondered if whatever had been going on this morning was serious enough to call her away from school.

I glanced at Edward, sitting in front of me. He was writing something, but I couldn't tell what. I was fairly sure it wasn't homework since we hadn't been assigned any yet. Or at least, I hadn't. Not that he ever did it on time anyway. Wishing I'd had the forethought to bring a book or magazine myself, a thought struck me. At my old school in Texas, we'd been able to leave study halls to go to the library; I wondered if Forks had a similar policy.

Deciding I'd never know if I didn't ask, I stood up and made my way to the teacher's desk, noting that Alice was watching me with a suspicious scowl out of her peripheral vision but being careful not to appear as if she'd noticed. I wondered again why she seemed bent on disliking me, yet couldn't seem to keep her eyes off of me. Completely perplexed and unsure of what to do about it just yet, I approached Ms. Witmer. She peered up at me over the rims of her glasses.

"Yes, Jasper?" she asked.

"Ma'am, I was just wondering if we're allowed to visit the library during study halls?" I inquired. "I'm afraid I'm not familiar with your policies here yet," I noted a bit apologetically, and with one of my most persuasive smiles.

She visibly relaxed a bit and responded, "Why, certainly. We only allow two students at a time per study hall, but you're in luck today- only one student has signed out so far. Would you like the second pass?"

I hesitated for just a second, not really _wanting_ to voluntarily leave her space, but wondering if this wasn't a case of absence possibly making the heart grow fonder. I decided to just go for it; keeping my distance now might serve me greater in the future. And besides, I did have an entire school to explore- now might be just the time to do it, when I wasn't otherwise…distracted.

"Yes ma'am, I'd very much like that," I said with determination. I signed out and left without glancing back- it wasn't in me to regret my decisions once made.

When I reached the library, I wandered through the stacks for a while perusing the offerings before settling on a historical account of battles in my home state of Texas during the Civil War, my favorite era in history. I considered myself something of an amateur expert in the area and I felt very close to that period, strange as it sounds. My parent's house had been in the family for generations and I'd been named after a great-great-great uncle of mine, a major in the Texas cavalry during that war. My father had been delighted to discover that I'd shown an affinity for my namesake and heritage, and when I was sixteen, he'd given me one of the greatest gifts I'd ever gotten- my uncle's military issue overcoat and matching hat with the name J. Whitlock hand-sewn on the inside. It had been kept in the family for decades, and now it was in my possession.

I took the book and made my way over to where I'd seen a lounge type of area and settled in; I seemed to be one of the only people in the library. About seven pages into the book, I'd gotten distracted and bored with my reading material. It was a re-hash of the same basic information I already knew about this particular campaign which I expected, but was very obviously written with a strong Southern bias. I found myself spacing off, wondering what events in this writer's life had inspired them to recall such a contemptuous account of the Battle of Galveston. The War of Northern Aggression, especially the older ones, called it even today. I had just as much Southern pride as any of my fellow southerners, but I hoped that I portrayed myself as a more tolerant and educated member of society than a lot of them.

I would never know the_ real_ reasons behind the rift between the two halves of my country, only the ones taught to us in history classes to justify the war; doubtless, very few of the poor souls who had risked or given up their lives and families even knew those. I was imagining the fear and distress of the civilians as soldiers rapped on their doors and told them that they had to leave as quickly as possible, before the port was invaded by Union soldiers when a loud crash startled me out of my musings, causing me to jump reflexively and knocking my book from my lap.

"Oh, hell," I heard a disgruntled feminine voice in the vicinity of the stacks directly to my left say. Curiosity moved me to my feet and had me following the shuffling sounds of books being stacked. I poked my head around the corner to find a very harassed Bella crouched down on one knee, gathering a pile of books that had apparently fallen off the little cart that was sitting next to her. I chuckled to myself when I realized that Bella must have the other library pass that Ms. Witmer had mentioned.

"Can I be of some service to you, ma'am?" I asked with a grin and an exaggerated drawl as I took long steps in her direction, knelt down and began helping her pick up the contents of her cart, now on the floor. She gasped and jumped back a bit, bringing her hand up to her heart.

"Oh, Jasper...I didn't even see you there. Leave it to me to make an idiot out of myself when someone's around to see it," she muttered, blushing. I grinned a little more; she was downright adorable, in a little sister kind of way.

"Oh, thanks. You didn't have to do that," she said belatedly, waving her hand to indicate the small stack of books I was holding and reaching out to take them from me.

"You're very welcome Miss Bella, and it was no problem at all. I was just coming to find something to read anyway," I lied, holding out the top book out for her inspection and hoping to put her more at ease.

She looked at the title, raised her eyebrows dubiously and let out what I thought was a snort of derision as she was getting to her feet and crossing her arms. "Looking for reading material, eh? I wouldn't have pegged you for a..." she looked back at the book and then at me, "...frustrated bible-thumper."

I looked at the book I was holding. It was _Intelligent Design for Dummies_.

"Caught," I grinned sheepishly as I handed her the offending literature with an apologetic nod. "I was sitting on the couch over there when I heard your, uh, distress," I explained as I used my thumb to indicate where I'd been sitting.

"Typical," she grumbled. "I'd like to say I'm normally more graceful than that, buuut...no," she said in a self-deprecating fashion as she placed the last pile of escaped books back on the cart disgustedly.

"Why don't you come back over here and sit with me for a few minutes, take a break?" I suggested. Her expression turned a bit wary. "I've been keeping myself company all period, and quite frankly, I'm boring as dirt," I continued. Bella laughed.

"If there's one thing I _definitely_ wouldn't peg you for, it's 'boring as dirt'," Bella replied, abandoning her cart reluctantly in the aisle and following me back to the couch I'd set up camp on. "You're way too new to be 'boring as dirt'," she explained as we both sat facing each other.

I chuckled. She picked up the book I'd left on the little table when I'd gone to investigate, and she gestured with it now. "Yours?" she questioned, taking in the title.

"Guilty again," I responded. "Don't worry, I'll put it back," I assured her with a teasing grin.

"Nope," she said to no one in particular as she set the book back down, "...definitely not boring."

I thought she might expound on that, but after a harrowing thirty seconds of silence, it seemed like she'd retreated back into her little Bella cave; she obviously wasn't completely comfortable around me still, which I couldn't honestly blame her for. I didn't mind doing most of the talking anyway- aside from genuinely enjoying our conversations, I suspected that this girl had information that I could appreciate and put to good use.

"So you seem to be in a better mood," I observed, watching her face. She looked confused for a few seconds.

"Huh....? Oh. Right," she said, a grim look settling on her features. "You must be talking about homeroom, I guess?" she asked guardedly.

"Well, I did notice that you seemed a little upset..." I prevaricated, wanting her to feel at ease with confiding in me, and not seeming like I was pushing her.

"Yeah, I was," she acknowledged, without offering a reason. "It...wasn't a good morning for me," she said with finality, and I noticed a little scowl joining the dark set of her expression.

Ok, so maybe that wasn't the right path to take.

"So..." I searched around in my head for a topic that would seem random but give me some more insight, "What do you guys do around here, y'know, after school and stuff?"

The dark expression left her face, to be replaced with one of concentration; she looked like she was really thinking hard about it.

"Umm...I don't really know," she said, bringing her hand up to her hair and pushing the strands that had fallen forward out of her face. "I guess we do...the usual stuff?" It came out in a question form.

"Well, what's the usual stuff?" I asked.

"I don't know...some people do after-school sports..." she trailed off, clearly wondering how to answer the question.

"What sports do you guys have here?" I asked interestedly at the turn of the topic, hoping she'd bring up Alice without me having to ask.

"Well, we've got football...basketball...baseball...um, track, tennis, cheerleading, I guess, if you consider it a sport. Umm...what else? Volleyball, there's a girl's volleyball team..."

"Which one do you play?" I asked, breaking her train of thought.

"Me?" she asked incredulously. "Oh no....No. Me and sports do not get along. Like, even a little bit," she said emphatically as she shook her head. "_I_ can't even stay upright most of the time. Ali plays tennis though. And girl's softball in the spring- oh yeah, I forgot softball," she added as an afterthought. "She used to run track too," she continued on, absentmindedly.

Alright, so she was the athletic type. I filed that away for later consideration.

"What do _you_ do after school?" I asked, genuinely interested.

"Me? Oh...well, most of the time I hang out with Ali, usually at her house if at all possible. I don't know if you noticed yesterday, but my little brother's got a little...crush on her," she said.

"I did actually notice that," I responded casually, amused. I knew exactly where he was coming from. _Tough luck, kid._

"Yeah, so anyway. We're normally trying to escape him, unless I get suckered into kid-sitting...which happens a depressing number of times, honestly. Ali has practices a lot after school, pretty much year round between the tennis and the softball. I work a few afternoons at the public library and she works on the weekends at Brewer's sometimes..." she trailed off, looking contemplative again.

"Wait- so you re-shelve books here _and_ work at the public library?" I asked, a little surprised.

"Uhm...yeah," she said a little bashfully. "I really like to read."

"Ok. What else?" I asked, giving her the floor again.

Oh, well- there's a pool hall downtown, some of the kids hang out there after school until they get kicked out for Happy Hour. And there's the diner too," she added. "Mostly, that's it...sometimes they go out to the Res and surf at La Push. Forks is a pretty small town," she said apologetically.

"I come from a pretty small town too...well, I guess _we_ come from a pretty small town, I should say in point of fact," I sad, thinking about my cousin. "Actually, it might even be smaller than Forks," I mused.

Bella opened her mouth to say something, but before she could speak the four minute warning bell rang.

"Oh!" She exclaimed, jumping up. "I can't believe how fast that period went!" She looked at me. "We'd better get back to study hall- we'll have to sign back in."

"Alright, let me just put this back where I found it...wouldn't want to make any more work for some poor soul," I said, holding up the book and giving her a teasing grin. She smiled and plucked it out of my hand as she said, "I'll get it, I know right where this one goes," before running off with it.

I chuckled to myself, picked up my bag and leaned against the back of the chair I'd been sitting in, waiting for Bella to return. My mind went back to the guy who'd driven Alice to school this morning. He was definitely too young to be her dad, and there was no physical resemblance that I could see; I was going to have to get to the bottom of that. A boyfriend would put a serious kink in my plans.

As Bella moved back into view I stood up straighter reflexively; my mother had never let me slouch in company, especially company of the feminine persuasion. Bella must have noticed the movement because she pulled herself out of some serious concentration of the pattern on the rug and gave me a kind of startled look, which I responded to with a quizzical expression of my own.

"I didn't expect you to wait for me," she mumbled, by way of an explanation.

"A lady never walks alone when Jasper Whitlock's on the job," I joked, giving her a big grin and mockingly holding my elbow out to her.

She rolled her eyes good-naturedly and fell into step beside me as we exited the library and started down the hall. It was nice hanging out with Bella. It felt comfortable and relaxing almost, especially in light of the fact that the whole school seemed to be hanging on my every move. I didn't feel like she expected anything of me.

"So I take it you got Doodles home safe and sound yesterday?" she asked, breaking the silence.

I smiled to myself- it brought back a memory of a thoroughly flustered Alice that I couldn't help but laugh at. Bella noticed.

"What's so funny?" she inquired as we rounded a corner. It was my turn to look a little embarrassed.

"Well, uh..." I brought my hand up to my hair nervously and riffled it. "It's nothing important," I stalled.

Bella gave me a measured look. "Oh c'mon- after a lead-in like that, you have to tell me," she said definitively, the expression on her face expectant.

"No...I really can't," I admitted. "I shouldn't have even laughed. Your friend already seems to have a problem with me..." I trailed off.

"My friend?" she asked curiously. "Who...Esme?" she asked, confusion evident.

"Ahh...no," I said as I brought my hand back up to rub my neck. She was still looking at me severely and I knew I'd already stepped in it. Well fine, maybe I could make the best out of a bad situation.

"Your friend Alice," I explained. "We kind of ran into her about the same time your other friend's dog did. I really shouldn't have laughed. It wasn't funny at the time. Well, not to me anyway.

Bella paused in the hallway, her jaw dropped open a bit. "Ok, seriously. What are you talking about? What happened yesterday?"

"Alice didn't tell you?" Now that surprised me a bit. Granted, I didn't know either of these girls well enough to say, but they had seemed pretty close. And I figured like most girls, they probably told each other everything.

"No, she didn't," Bella said in a frosty tone and continued walking. "She was supposed to meet me here this morning, but apparently her brother showed up unexpectedly."

"Her brother?" My turn to question. "Is that the guy who was driving the Camaro this morning?

"Oh, probably. I don't know; I was in the school already, but I know Emmett does have a Camaro," she answered noncommittally.

We had reached the door of the classroom and no sooner did she put her hand on the knob to open it did the bell ring, dismissing us for third period. The door was wrenched inward by someone eagerly escaping and we both nearly got trampled. We had to wait a few seconds for our peers to vacate so we could get back inside; it didn't escape my attention that Alice was watching me somberly as she exited the room, giving us a wide berth and favoring Bella with a look imbued with meaning that I wasn't meant to understand.

"Oooooh Ali, wait for me!" Bella squealed, rushing inside to scribble her name on Ms. Witmer's sign-in sheet. Alice crossed her arms and leaned against the wall, looking anywhere but in my direction as she waited. I couldn't shake the feeling that she was annoyed with me for some reason, but before I could find a way to justify breaking my own rule to give her space, Bella re-emerged through the door.

"Don't forget to sign in," Bella reminded me as she joined her friend. "See ya later Jasper!" she chirped, in a considerably better mood than I'd found her, as she linked her arm through Alice's and dragged her down the hallway.

"Miss Bella, Miss Alice," I said by way of goodbye as they walked away from me. Alice looked up at me when she heard her name and I met her eyes for only a second. I nodded to her, vaguely irritated with myself over how bothered I was by her cool reception, and shoved my hands in my jeans pockets. I watched them walk down the hallway until someone clapped me on the shoulder, breaking the spell. I turned to see what had happened and saw Edward standing behind me with a huge shit-eating grin on his face.

"Bro, you are so transparent," he said as he laughed at me. "See ya in Lit...if you make it through history," he smirked at me and he walked away, still chuckling to himself.

In my distraction I'd completely forgotten that next period was History.

With Alice.


End file.
